Black and Hispanic children with leukemia experience inferior survival compared to non-Hispanic White (NHW) children. Identifying modifiable social determinants of health can inform intervention targets to address inequities. We characterized the frequency of income poverty and household material hardship (HMH) by race/ethnicity in a clinical trial cohort with de novo acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Compared to NHW families, Black and Hispanic families reported more frequent HMH (19% vs. 47% vs. 68% respectively); low-income (27% vs. 52% vs. 74%), and combined low-income and HMH (12% vs. 37% vs. 52%) poverty exposures. Disparate poverty exposures are interventional targets to address racial/ethnic outcome inequities.

Social determinants of health (SDoH) are associated with stark disparities in cancer outcomes, but systematic SDoH data collection is currently absent from oncology clinical trials. Trial-based SDoH data are essential to ensure representation of marginalized populations, contextualize outcomes, and identify health-equity intervention opportunities. We report the feasibility of the first pediatric oncology multicenter trial-embedded SDoH investigation. Among 448 trial participants, 392 (87.5%) opted-in to the embedded SDoH study; 375 (95.7%) completed baseline surveys, with high longitudinal response rates (87.2-92.8%) over 24-months of therapy. Trial-embedded SDoH data collection is feasible and acceptable, and must be consistently included within future oncology trials.

Background: Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common pediatric malignancy. The onset of obesity during childhood ALL has been well established and is associated with inferior survival rates and increased treatment-related toxicities. This pilot study sought to determine if a dietary intervention is feasible and minimizes weight gain during the initial phases of treatment for ALL. Methods: Participants were recruited from four institutions, fluent in English or Spanish, between 5-21 years old, and enrolled within three days of starting induction therapy. Participants were counseled for six months to follow a low glycemic diet. Dietary and anthropometric data were collected at baseline, end of induction, and end of month six (NCT03157323). Results: Twenty-three of 28 participants (82.1%) were evaluable and included in the analysis. Dietary intake of several nutrients targeted by the nutrition intervention declined (sugar, P = 0.003 and glycemic load, P = 0.053). We also observed a persistent increase in total vegetables across each timepoint (P = 0.015) and by the end of the intervention (P = 0.033). Importantly, we did not observe an increase in body mass index z-score during induction or over the six-month intervention period. Most families found the nutrition intervention easy to follow (60%) and affordable (95%) despite simultaneous initiation of treatment for ALL. Conclusions: A six-month nutrition intervention initiated during the initial phase of treatment for childhood ALL is feasible and may prevent weight gain. Our preliminary findings need to be confirmed in a larger clinical trial.

Poor adherence to 6-mercaptopurine during acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) therapy increases relapse risk. Clinically-significant non-adherence has been documented in up to 30% of children treated for ALL on Children’s Oncology Group trials. Whether non-adherence rates vary across regimens with different chemotherapy schedules and modes of administration is not known. In a cross-sectional survey study of N= 61 children treated on, or as per Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) ALL Consortium Protocol 11-001, 25% (95% CI 14 – 37%) of respondents self-reported non-adherence to 6MP, suggesting that the frequency of non-adherence may be similar across different Consortia regimens.

Tisagenlecleucel offers promise to children with relapsed/refractory (r/r) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, there is limited experience with and data supporting the use of tisagenlecleucel in infants. We describe our successful experience using tisagenlecleucel followed by a haploidentical donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in an infant with r/r KMT2A-rearranged ALL, the youngest infant to survive and achieve prolonged remission using this approach.

COVID-19 disease causes primarily pulmonary manifestations, with myriad other clinical manifestations especially in high-risk conditions, including sickle cell disease (SCD). We present a 19-year-old with SCD on deferasirox with COVID-19 infection involving pain and acute chest syndrome, four weeks later developing hyperammonemia and hyperinflammatory multiorgan failure. Successful treatment included hemodialysis, red cell exchange transfusion, and therapeutic plasma exchange. Though SCD-related multiorgan failure and deferasirox-related hyperammonemia are reported, this case suggests multifactorial etiology including COVID-19-related hyperinflammation. Awareness of potential hepatic and systemic complications, and consideration for exchange transfusion and therapeutic plasma exchange, may reduce severity of COVID-19 sequelae in SCD.