Toxicity, supportive care and costs of two chemotherapy protocols for treatment of childhood ALL in Russia: BFM 90m and MB 91.

Since the late 1980s, polychemotherapy protocols for the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) derived from Western European and American regimens have been introduced in Russian paediatric oncology centres. Whereas treatment results were significantly improved compared with the results of former non-standard treatment strategies, the substantial toxicity of these protocols required a high standard of supportive care, and the high costs of treatment became a major problem. In 1991, a new protocol was developed with the aim of reducing toxicity and costs without affecting efficacy of the treatment.