58 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) were studied for the effect of initial clinical and laboratory
features and surface markers of lymphoblasts on the prognosis. 18.9% of them had T cell leukaemia while 3.4% had
B-cell leukaemia. Six pre-treatment features were related to T-cell ALL, i.e. - age over 6 years, boys, presence of
mediastinal enlargement, haemoglobin over 8g/dl, markedly elevated leucocyte count and CNS involvement. 90% of
T-Cell ALL survived for less than 6 months. Both the cases of B-cell leukaemia died within 8 weeks. Identification of
T and B cell leukaemia warrants more aggressive treatment for these patients to achieve remission and survive longer
