Recent Progress in the Treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Clofarabine

Significant progress in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has been achieved through more effective use of established drugs in risk-adapted treatment regimens. As we are reaching the limits of optimizing current treatment strategies, new therapeutic targets are being identified, and novel formulation of older drugs are being explored. Clofarabine is a novel purine analog approved in 2005 for treating children in second or greater ALL relapse. Ongoing trials are studying the benefits of clofarabine combinations in less heavily pretreated patients, and the use of different dose schedules in a variety of hematologic malignancies.