Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is a rare disease with the highest incidence in childhood and patients older then 60 years. While the long-term outcomes of ALL have improved significantly in the paediatric population and to a lesser extent in young adults, elderly patients still have a very poor prognosis.1,2 In fact, half of all deaths from ALL occur in patients older than 55 years and their 5-year overall survival (OS) rate ranges from 10–20%.3,4 During the 36th general annual meeting of the Belgian Haematology Society Prof. Anita Rijneveld, from the Erasmus Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, gave an overview of recent advances in the treatment of adults ALL patients.
