Helen Chen

Publications (2)20.26 Total impact

• Article: Higher dose imatinib for children with de novo chronic phase chronic myelogenous leukemia: A report from the Children's Oncology Group

  Martin A. Champagne MD, Cecilia H. Fu MD, Myron Chang PhD, Helen Chen MS, Robert B. Gerbing MA, Todd A. Alonzo PhD, Linda D. Cooley MD, Nyla A. Heerema PhD, Vivian Oehler MD, Charlotte Wood CCRP, [......], Robert B. Gerbing, Todd A. Alonzo, Linda D. Cooley, Nyla A. Heerema, Vivian Oehler, Charlotte Wood, Mary Ellen French, Robert J. Arceci, Franklin O. Smith, Mark L. Bernstein
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  ABSTRACT: PurposeTo determine the efficacy of imatinib in children with newly diagnosed chronic phase (CP) chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).Methods This was an open label, multi-center phase II clinical trial. Courses were defined as consecutive 28-day intervals. Oral imatinib was administered daily at 340 mg/m2 without interruption in the absence of toxicity.ResultsFifty-one children received 978 28-day courses of imatinib. The most common toxicities encountered were hematologic. Forty-one patients (80%) achieved a complete hematologic response by the end of course 2. Nineteen children (38%) obtained a complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) at the end of course 3. Overall, 72% achieved CCyR at a median time of 5.6 months. The rate of complete molecular response (>3 log reduction) was 27%. Progression-free and overall survival at 3 years were 72% ± 6.4% and 92% ± 3.9%, respectively.Conclusions Daily oral imatinib at a dose of 340 mg/m2 is well tolerated in children. In addition, imatinib therapy is effective in inducing a high percent of hematologic, cytogenetic and molecular responses, comparable to adults with CML. (This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifier NCT00030394.). Pediatr Blood Cancer 2011;57:56–62. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
  Pediatric Blood & Cancer 07/2011; 57(1):56 - 62. · 1.89 Impact Factor
• Article: Minimal disseminated disease in childhood T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma: a report from the children's oncology group.

  Elaine Coustan-Smith, John T Sandlund, Sherrie L Perkins, Helen Chen, Myron Chang, Minnie Abromowitch, Dario Campana
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  ABSTRACT: PURPOSE Disease dissemination to the bone marrow is detected at diagnosis in approximately 15% of children with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LL). It is unclear whether the remaining patients have submicroscopic systemic disease and, if so, what is the clinical significance of this finding. PATIENTS AND METHODS Using a flow cytometric method that can detect one T-LL cell among 10,000 normal cells, we examined bone marrow and peripheral-blood samples collected from 99 children with T-LL at diagnosis, as well as blood samples collected from 42 patients during treatment. Results In 71 (71.7%) of the 99 marrow samples obtained at diagnosis, T-LL cells represented 0.01% to 31.6% (median, 0.22%) of mononuclear cells; 57 of the 71 T-LL-positive samples were from patients with stage II/III disease. Results of studies in bilateral marrow aspirates were highly concordant. Two-year event-free survival (EFS) was 68.1% +/- 11.1% (SE) for patients with > or = 1% T-LL cells in bone marrow versus 90.7% +/- 4.4% for those with lower levels of marrow involvement (P = .031); EFS for patients with > or = 5% lymphoblasts was 51.9% +/- 18.0% (P = .009). T-LL cells were as prevalent in blood as in marrow; monitoring residual T-LL cells in blood during remission induction therapy identified patients with slower disease clearance. CONCLUSION More than two thirds of children with T-LL have disseminated disease at diagnosis, a proportion much higher than previously demonstrated. Measurements of disease dissemination at diagnosis might provide useful prognostic information, which can be further refined by monitoring response to therapy through blood testing.
  Journal of Clinical Oncology 06/2009; 27(21):3533-9. · 18.37 Impact Factor