Episode 3.1: History of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treatment and Building the BFM Backbone

In part one of a two-part episode, Bernie Marini and Anthony Perissinotti take a journey through the history of acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment throughout the decades and explain how we got to our current standard of care treatment of ALL patients. In part 2 we tackle the UKALL14 study evaluating the addition of rituximab to acute lymphoblastic leukemia therapy.

Some important historical articles that we reference:

• Nitrogen mustard therapy: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20997191/
• Methotrexate/Aminopterin: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejm194806032382301
  • Vincristine: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13627916/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2085431/ and https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/cbmh.17.1.155
• 6-MP: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13105700/
• Total Therapy: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/5237796/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/5279904/
• BFM: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/320377/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23700050/

This episode is dedicated to the late Don Pinkel (9/7/1927 - 3/9/2022), a pioneer in the treatment of childhood ALL. Read more about his legacy here: https://cancerletter.com/obituary/20220318_4/ and https://www.nature.com/articles/s41375-022-01562-9.pdf and https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/childhood-leukemia-untreatable-dr-don-pinkel-st-jude-180959501/