Advances in the diagnostic approach to childhood lymphoblastic malignant neoplasms.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL) not only are the most common cancer in children, but also among the most curable. Contemporary therapy has achieved highly successful survival rates by risk stratification into low- and high-risk treatment groups. This has permitted tailoring therapy intensity to produce higher remission rates, even in unfavorable prognostic groups. Accurate diagnosis, subclassification, and identification of relevant prognostic factors for lymphoblastic malignant neoplasms, using a multiparametric approach including immunophenotyping, cytogenetic and molecular analysis, and more traditional pathologic criteria, provides information that allows each patient to receive appropriate treatment.