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Introduction: Whether steroid response is an independent risk factor for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is controversial. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between response to dexamethasone and prognosis in children with ALL. Methods: We analyzed the data of 5,161 children with ALL who received treatment in accordance with the Chinese Children's Cancer Group ALL-2015 protocol between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2018, in China. All patients received dexamethasone for 4 days as upfront window therapy. Based on the peripheral lymphoblast count on day 5, these patients were classified into the dexamethasone good response (DGR) and dexamethasone poor response (DPR) groups. A peripheral lymphoblast count ≥1× 109/L indicated poor response to dexamethasone. Results: The age, white blood cell counts, prevalence of the BCR/ABL1 and TCF3/PBX1 fusion genes, and rates of recurrence in the central nervous system were higher in the DPR than in the DGR group (P<0.001). Compared to the DPR group, the DGR group had a lower recurrence rate (18.6% vs. 11%) and higher 6-year event-free survival (73% vs. 83%) and overall survival (86% vs. 92%) rates; nevertheless, subgroup analysis only showed significant difference in the intermediate-risk group (P<0.001). Discussion: Response to dexamethasone was associated with an early treatment response in our study. In the intermediate-risk group, dexamethasone response added a prognostic value in addition to minimal residual disease, which may direct early intervention to reduce the relapse rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Before 2003, most children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) abandoned treatment, with only approximately 30% treated in China. With the development of national insurance for underprivileged patients, we assessed the current frequency and causes of treatment abandonment among patients with ALL who were enrolled in the Chinese Children's Cancer Group ALL protocol between 2015 and 2016.Methods: Demographic, clinical and laboratory data on patients who abandoned treatment, as well as economic and sociocultural data of their families were collected and analysed. General health-related statistics were retrieved from publicly accessible databanks maintained by the Chinese government.Results: At a median follow-up of 119 weeks, 83 (3.1%, 95% CI 2.5% to 3.8%) of the 2641 patients abandoned treatment. Factors independently associated with abandonment included standard/high-risk ALL (OR 2.62, 95% CI 1.43 to 4.77), presence of minimal residual disease at the end of remission induction (OR 3.57, 95% CI 1.90 to 6.74) and low-income economic region (OR 3.7, 95% CI 1.89 to 7.05). According to the family members, economic constraints (50.6%, p=0.0001) were the main reason for treatment abandonment, followed by the belief of incurability, severe side effects and concern over late complications.Conclusions: The rate of ALL treatment abandonment has been greatly reduced in China. Standard/high-risk ALL, residence in a low-income region and economic difficulties were associated with treatment abandonment.Clinical Trial Registration Number: ChiCTR-IPR-14005706, pre-results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: The impacts of nutritional status on clinical outcomes in children receiving umbilical cord blood stem cell transplantation (UCBT) are not fully described. We evaluated the risk for malnutrition before transplantation admission and influence of weight loss during hospitalization on short-term clinical outcomes in children with UCBT. Methods and Study Design: We conducted a retrospective study of pediatric patients up to age 18 years who received UCBT and were treated at the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University between January 2019 and December 2020. Results: The mean age of the 91 patients was 1.3 years, with 78 (85.7%) men and 13 (14.3%) women (p<0.001). UCBT was performed mostly for primary immunodeficiency disease (PID) (83, 91.2%). The weight loss differences among children with different primary diseases were statistically significant (p=0.003). Children with a large amount of weight loss during hospitalization (n = 24) had higher risks of skin graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) (multivariate OR=5.01, 95% CI: 1.35-18.65), intestinal GVHD (multivariate OR=7.27, 95% CI: 1.74-30.45), a longer median hospital stay (p=0.004), higher antibiotic costs (p=0.008) and higher total hospitalization costs (p=0.004). Malnutrition on admission was significantly positively correlated with longer parenteral nutrition (PN) time (p=0.008). Early nutritional intervention effects on clinical outcomes need further assessment. Conclusions: Underweight recipient child and excessive weight loss during transplantation increases the length and cost of hospital stay, and is associated with a high incidence of GVHD, which affects the prognosis of transplantation and medical resources consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]