Outcomes for childhood leukemia patients has improved over the last 30 years.

Childhood leukemia was once thought to be untreatable - but today, more than 80 percent of patients with acute lymphobastic (lim-fo-bast-ic) leukemia survive at least 5 years, report researchers at St. Jude's Research Hospital and the Associated Press. Dr. Gregory Brandt, director of pediatric hematology and oncology at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield agrees with the study.

SOUND BITE: "Currently, for all leukemia, overall survival is upwards of of 80 percent. That's probably what we call a 5-year event-free survival. What this study is doing is trying to answer that question which has been nagging pediatric oncologists for years, is once these patients get out to a certain length of time, 'is there a risk of their leukemia coming back?' because that's what parents want to know."

Although most patients are free of their leukemia 10 years after being treated, some are still at risk for a return of the blood cancer, developing second cancers or other complications that might have been caused by their treatment. The standard treatment for leukemia used to include radiation treatment to prevent it from spreading to the brain or spinal cord. Dr. Brandt says he tries to limit the number of patients who get radiation therapy.

SOUND BITE: ". . . only a few select patients receive radiation therapy - those patients that we think are at higher risk to develop to develop leukemia in their brain. So only the highest risk patients receive craniospinal radio therapy. All other patients receive different forms of central nervous system therapy -- What might that be . . .high dose systemic chemo-therapy or through multiple spinal taps with direct injections of chemo-therapy through the central nervous system."

Childhood leukemia patients in the study who did not receive radiation treatment have normal lives in terms of marriages, jobs and other lifestyle patterns.