Utility of end consolidation bone marrow aspirates in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL]: A Pediatric Oncology Group study [POG]

8564 Background: There is little information on the value of bone marrow aspirates (BMA) as a guide to treatment in pediatric ALL. Although BMA morphology provides useful information at diagnosis, end of induction, and end of therapy, its value when performed at the end of consolidation is not known. During the conduct of several POG protocols, a decision was made to discontinue end of consolidation BMA. This provided an opportunity to study the value of BMA at that time point. Methods: We reviewed end of consolidation BMA morphology from four POG protocols, (POG 9201 Pilot for good-risk ALL; POG 9201, phase III study for good-risk ALL; and POG 9405/9605, phase III study for standard-risk ALL). Patients were stratified into low-, standard-, and high-risk groups according to NIH criteria (age, white count, CNS involvement), DNA index, and cytogenetics. POG 9201 Pilot, 9201, and 9605 defined the end of consolidation as week 25, and POG 9405 as week 28. 2086 study coordinator charts were reviewed: 697 [POG 9...