Objectives: To compare survival among the subgroup of children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) who were treated at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children (PMH) in Perth, Western Australia, over 25 years under 15 consecutive protocols of the Children's Cancer Group (CCG) with survival for the entire cohort of children in multiple centres treated under CCG protocols in that period; and to highlight the benefits of membership of a large cooperative research group conducting multicentre randomised controlled trials.
Design, participants and setting: Retrospective review of the outcomes of all 311 children with newly diagnosed ALL treated at PMH between 1983 and 2008.
Main outcome measures: 4-year event-free survival; and 10-year overall survival.
Results: Four-year event-free survival for the entire PMH cohort increased from 66% (SE, 6%) for 1983-1987 to 88% (SE, 6%) for 2002-2005, while overall survival over the same period improved from 78% (SE, 5%) to 94% (SE, 4%). Comparisons of outcomes of children treated at PMH with those of the entire CCG cohort, protocol by protocol, revealed similar outcomes.
Conclusion: Outcomes of children treated at PMH over the 25-year period are equivalent to those of the larger CCG cohort.