The changing survivorship of white and black children with leukemia

A study was conducted in metropolitan Baltimore to examine changes in survival of white and black children with acute leukemia from 1960 through 1975. Two‐hundred eighty‐seven cases were identified, of which 77% were acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). Eighty‐three percent of all cases occurred in white children. In white children with ALL, two‐year survival rates increased from 32% in 1960–64 to 47% in 1965–69, and to 79% in 1970–75 (p < .005). In the small sample of black children with ALL, two‐year survival rates increased from 25% in 1960–64 to 59% in 1965–69 (p < .01), with no further increase in 1970–75. For acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL), survivorship was analyzed in white children, among whom one‐year survival rates increased from 42% in 1965–69 to 71% in 1970–75 (p < .005). The increasingly better survival over time of white children with acute leukemia probably reflects the increasing efficacy of new therapeutic approaches.