Table II.
Clinical characteristics of the study population.
| Variable | Total | T-ALL | B-ALL | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 90 | 24 | 66 | |
| Sex | 0.16519 | |||
| Male, n (%) | 59 (65.56) | 19 (79.17) | 40 (60.61) | |
| Female, n (%) | 31 (34.44) | 5 (20.83) | 26 (39.39) | |
| Age at diagnosis, years(IQR) | 8.36 (3.62–12.88) | 8.87 (3.22–13.05) | 8.05 (3.79–12.73) | 0.98908 |
| WBC, ×103/µl (IQR) | 26.65 (6.36–88.10) | 108.85 (29.74–279.01) | 14.13 (4.45–53.00) | 0.00008 |
| MRD at day 15, % (IQR) | 1.06 (0.13–9.50) | 4.2 (0.83–29.30) | 0.61 (0.07–5.25) | 0.00740 |
| Resistance to steroids, % | 0.01456 | |||
| Positive (IQR) | 14 (15.55) | 8 (33.33) | 6 (9.09) | |
| Negative (IQR) | 76 (84.44) | 16 (66.66) | 60 (90.91) |
Nominal variables are presented as numbers with percentages in brackets and compared using the χ2 test, while continuous variables are presented as medians with interquartile ranges in brackets and compared using U Mann-Whitney test. Steroid resistance was defined as a peripheral blood blast count>1,000 in 8th day of treatment. WBC, white blood cells; MRD, minimal residual diseases (measured as percentage of leukemic cells in bone marrow); T-ALL, T-cell lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia; B-ALL, B-cell lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia.