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Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treatment (PDQ®)     
Last Modified: 09/10/2009
Health Professional Version
Stage Information

There is no clear-cut staging system for this disease.

Untreated

For a newly diagnosed patient with no prior treatment, untreated adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is defined as an abnormal white blood cell count and differential, abnormal hematocrit/hemoglobin and platelet counts, abnormal bone marrow with more than 5% blasts, and signs and symptoms of the disease.

In remission

A patient who has received remission-induction treatment of ALL is in remission if the bone marrow is normocellular with 5% or less blasts, there are no signs or symptoms of the disease, no signs or symptoms of central nervous system leukemia or other extramedullary infiltration, and all of the following laboratory values are within normal limits: white blood cell count and differential, hematocrit/hemoglobin level, and platelet count.