Pegaspargase and Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Younger Patients With Newly Diagnosed High-Risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (Closed to Accrual 4-22-2011)

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To demonstrate that biweekly intravenous (IV) pegaspargase beginning with Consolidation and ending with completion of delayed intensification (DI) in combination with hemi-augmented BFM therapy (hABFM) is feasible and safe in children with high risk (HR) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

OUTLINE: Patients are stratified according to risk assignment (high-risk [HR]-average [day 29 minimal residual disease (MRD) < 0.01%] vs HR-high [MRD >= 0.01%, presence of central nervous system [CNS]3 leukemia, testicular disease, myeloid/mixed lineage leukemia [MLL] rearrangement, hypodiploidy, or steroid therapy within the past month]). Patients are assigned to 1 of 2 treatment groups.*

(Note: *Amendment 2 [4-22-2011] requires changes in the regimens. See the changes below, after Maintenance therapy.)

INDUCTION THERAPY: All patients receive cytarabine intrathecally (IT) on day 1; vincristine sulfate IV on days 1, 8, 15, and 22; prednisone IV or orally (PO) twice daily (BID) on days 1-28; daunorubicin hydrochloride IV over 15 minutes on days 1, 8, 15, and 22; methotrexate IT on days 8 and 29*; and pegaspargase IV over 1-2 hours on day 4.

(Note: *Patients with CNS3 disease [white blood cells [(WBC)] >= 5/uL and positive for blasts on cytospin] also receive methotrexate IT on days 15 and 22.)

CONSOLIDATION THERAPY (begins on day 36 of induction therapy):

GROUP A (HR-AVERAGE): Patients receive cyclophosphamide IV over 1 hour on days 1 and 29; cytarabine IV over 15 minutes or subcutaneously (SC) on days 1-4, 8-11, 29-32, and 36-39; mercaptopurine PO once daily (QD) on days 1-14 and 29-42; vincristine sulfate IV on days 15, 22, 43, and 50; methotrexate IT on days 1, 8, 15*, and 22*; and pegaspargase IV over 1-2 hours on days 15 and 43.

GROUP B (HR-HIGH): Patients receive cyclophosphamide, cytarabine, mercaptopurine, vincristine sulfate, and methotrexate as in Group A. Beginning on day 1, patients also receive pegaspargase IV over 1-2 hours every 2 weeks. Patients with CNS3 disease undergo cranial radiotherapy QD for 10 days and patients with testicular disease undergo testicular radiotherapy QD for 12 days, beginning on day 1 of consolidation.

(Note: *Patients with CNS3 disease [WBC >= 5/uL and positive for blasts on cytospin] do not receive methotrexate IT on days 15 and 22.)

Interim maintenance (IM) therapy (begins on day 57 of consolidation):

GROUP A: Patients receive vincristine sulfate IV on days 1, 11, 21, 31, and 41; methotrexate IV over 10-15 minutes on days 1, 11, 21, 31, and 41; methotrexate IT on days 1 and 31; and pegaspargase IV over 1-2 hours on days 2 and 22.

GROUP B: Patients receive vincristine sulfate and methotrexate as in Group A. Beginning on day 1, patients also receive pegaspargase IV over 1-2 hours every 2 weeks.

DI therapy (begins on day 57 of IM):

GROUP A: Patients receive vincristine sulfate IV on days 1, 8, 15, 43, and 50; dexamethasone IV or PO BID on days 1-7 and 15-21; doxorubicin hydrochloride IV over 15 minutes on days 1, 8, and 15; cyclophosphamide IV over 1 hour on day 29; cytarabine IV over 15 minutes or SC on days 29-32 and 36-39; thioguanine PO on days 29-42; methotrexate IT on days 1, 29, and 36; and pegaspargase IV over 1-2 hours on days 4 and 43.

GROUP B: Patients receive vincristine sulfate, dexamethasone, doxorubicin hydrochloride, cyclophosphamide, cytarabine, thioguanine, and methotrexate as in Group A. Beginning on day 1, patients also receive pegaspargase IV over 1-2 hours every 2 weeks.

MAINTENANCE THERAPY (MT; begins on day 57 of DI): All patients receive vincristine sulfate IV on days 1, 29, and 57; prednisone PO BID on days 1-5, 29-33, and 57-61; mercaptopurine PO on days 1-84; methotrexate IT on day 1; and methotrexate PO BID on days 8, 15, 22, 29*, 36, 43, 50, 57, 64, 71, and 78.

In both groups, MT repeats every 12 weeks until total duration of therapy is 2 years from the start of IM for female patients and 3 years from the start of IM for male patients. Patients in Group B who did not undergo radiotherapy to the brain during consolidation therapy undergo prophylactic cranial radiotherapy (CR) daily for 8 days.

([Note: *Patients in Group A also receive methotrexate IT on day 29 of courses 1-4 [no oral methotrexate]).

REVISED MT (RMT): The regimen is the same as standard MT, but 2 of the doses of IT methotrexate are omitted (day 29 of courses 3 and 4).

Inclusion criteria

• Patients must be eligible for and enrolled on AALL03B1 or the successor classification study
• Patients must have newly diagnosed high-risk B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
• WBC criteria

• Age 1.00-9.99 years: WBC >= 50,000/uL
• Age 10.00 - 30.99 years: Any WBC
• Prior steroid therapy: Any WBC
• Patients with testicular leukemia: Any WBC
• Patients shall have had no prior cytotoxic chemotherapy with the exception of steroids and intrathecal cytarabine
• Intrathecal chemotherapy with cytarabine is allowed prior to registration for patient convenience; this is usually done at the time of the diagnostic bone marrow or venous line placement to avoid a second lumbar puncture; the CNS status must be determined based on a sample obtained prior to administration of any systemic or intrathecal chemotherapy, except for steroid pretreatment; systemic chemotherapy must begin within 72 hours of this intrathecal therapy
• Patients receiving prior steroid therapy are eligible for study; the dose and duration of previous steroid therapy should be carefully documented
• All patients and/or their parents or legal guardians must sign a written informed consent
• All institutional, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and National Cancer Institute (NCI) requirements for human studies must be met

Exclusion criteria

• Pregnant female patients are ineligible; pregnancy tests with a negative result must be obtained in all post-menarchal females; males and females of reproductive potential may not participate unless they have agreed to use an effective contraceptive method; lactating females must agree that they will not breastfeed a child while on this study
• Patients with Down syndrome (DS) are ineligible since excessive toxicities and death have been noted for those enrolled on AALL0232 receiving the prednisone/Capizzi methotrexate (PC) arm of treatment, which is the backbone regimen for the current study