Medical care of childhood leukaemia.

The medical care given to a population-based sample of children with leukaemia was reviewed between two to three years after diagnosis. Just over half the children had been treated at local hospitals, and the others referred to centres specialising in treatment of leukaemia. Local hospitals could be divided according to the therapeutic regimen used; the survival of children given optimal regimens at local hospitals was equivalent to that of two of the three special centres. Assessment of social, psychological, satisfaction or cost outcomes showed no difference between the groups. It is concluded that a regional policy for childhood leukaemia should be concerned to improve treatment regimens at local hospitals rather than attempt to concentrate care at a few centres.