[Combination chemotherapy and cranial irradiation in 530 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (author's transl)].

530 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia were diagnosed between 1. 1. 1971 and 31. 12. 1974, and treated at 35 German hospitals according to the Memphis study VII or VIII2 and subsequently followed until 31. 12. 1976. At diagnosis 17.2% of the patients had a WBC count of over 50,000/mm3, 8.9% had mediastinal enlargement, 2.1% CNS leukaemia and 1.7% Down's syndrome. After being treated for two and a half years and being observed for a maximum of six years (minimum two years) 262 children (49.4%) were living, 203 (38.8%) in continued complete remission, most of them one to three years after end of treatment. Primary bone marrow relapse occurred in 39.6%, but CNS relapse in only 8.7%. Cranial irradiation at a dose of 1800 rad in 70 patients produced a CNS relapse of only 7.1%. Forty-one of these 530 children (7.7%) died in continued complete remission, the main causes being interstitial pneumonia and varicella. There was no difference in initial features and treatment results between six centres which had many and 29 with rather fewer patients. The five-years-survival rate (life-table method) was 41 +/- 3.5% for all 530 children and 10 +/- 3.7% for the 92 children with initial leucocyte counts of over 50.000/mm3.