Early UK experience in the use of clofarabine in the treatment of relapsed and refractory paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

Clofarabine is a second-generation purine nucleoside analogue, which has shown promising activity in relapsed and refractory paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). This report summarizes the early United Kingdom experience of clofarabine for the treatment of paediatric ALL in 23 patients, outside of the context of a clinical trial. Our results demonstrated that clofarabine-based chemotherapy regimes were effective and well-tolerated in this heavily pre-treated group, with an overall response rate of 67% when used in combination regimes. Responses were seen in both B and T cell disease and in patients with adverse cytogenetics.