DIAGNOSIS AND SUBCLASSIFICATION OF ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA

Abstract

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a disseminated malignancy of B- or T-lymphoblasts which imposes a rapid and accurate diagnostic process to support an optimal risk-oriented therapy and thus increase the curability rate. The need for a precise diagnostic algorithm is underlined by the awareness that both ALL therapy and related success rates may vary greatly in function of ALL subset, from standard chemotherapy in patients with standard-risk ALL, to allotransplantation (SCT) and targeted therapy in high-risk patients and cases expressing suitable biological targets, respectively. This review offers a glimpse on how best identify ALL and the most relevant ALL subsets.

Keywords

• Acute Lymphoid Leukemia
• ALL classification