Juvenile Chronic Granulocytic Leukemia and the Rationale and Indications for Bone Marrow Transplantation in Leukemia
1 Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine 1100 West Michigan Street Indianapolis, IN 46202
Effective treatment of the chronic granulocytic leukemias (CGL) remains a frustrating problem for the hematologist. Although the quality of life has been improved in Philadelphia (Ph1)-chromosome-positive CGL, little improvement in survival has been achieved with the currently available therapeutic modalities.1 Only 2% to 4% of childhood leukemia is CGL, and the Ph1-chromosome-negative form is even rarer.2 In several series of adults with CGL, the Ph1-chromosome-negative forms comprise 10% to 20% of the group; these forms first appear at a median age of 60, and the patients have a survival time of 18 months.3 When this form occurs in the young child, it invariably means a refractory response to chemotherapy and death within months.




