Simple leukemia treatment change in India cuts early child deaths

A landmark Indian clinical trial has found that giving steroids in short bursts instead of continuously can halve early treatment-related deaths in children with leukemia without reducing their chances of being cured.

The study led by the Indian Childhood Collaborative Leukemia (ICiCle) group, which includes University of Manchester researchers, treated over 3,000 children with acute B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at six major centers across India. ...