A 5-Question Quiz on Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

What race or ethnicity has the highest incidence of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia? Which ancestry is an independent risk factor for asparaginase-induced pancreatitis? Test your knowledge in our latest quiz.

Question 1

Answer

B. Hispanic

The National Cancer Institute’s PDQ Cancer Information summary on childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) states, “the incidence of ALL appears to be highest in Hispanic children (43 cases per 1 million). The incidence is substantially higher in white children than in black children with a nearly threefold higher incidence of ALL from age 2 to 3 years in white children than in black children.”

Question 2

Answer

D.Site of relapse and time from diagnosis to relapse

These are the two most important risk factors after first relapse, according to the National Cancer Institute’s PDQ Cancer Information summary on childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Other prognostic factors include patient characteristics (eg, age and peripheral blast count at time of relapse, risk group classification at initial diagnosis, response to reinduction therapy, cytogenetics/genomic alterations, and immunophenotype).

Question 3

Answer

A. Infants younger than 1

According to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines on acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the 5-year overall survival rate for this population is 55.8%, compared with a rate of 86% to 89% for children overall.

Question 4

Answer

D. Native American ancestry, older age, high-dose asparaginase regimen

In addition, the study investigators found that acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients who had had inherited “a nonsense rare variant in the CPA2 gene had a markedly increased risk of asparaginase-induced pancreatitis.” The authors concluded, “for the small number of patients carrying the highly penetrant CPA2 variants, a precision medicine approach using ALL regimens containing less asparaginase should be considered.”

Question 5

Answer

A. Less

Assessment of residual day 14 bone marrow blasts was highly predictive of achieving a complete remission with induction chemotherapy, according to the study, as well as median event-free and overall survival. However, when minimal residual disease assessment was also available, day 14 bone marrow blasts was “less prognostic of long-term outcomes.”