What the trial was testing
The IDEAL enrolled 40 patients with leukemia. The study was sponsored by Children's Hospital Los Angeles and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.
Researchers followed patients through treatment and into recovery, tracking the outcomes that mattered most for the disease being studied.
What the results showed
The diet and exercise program cut the risk of having detectable cancer cells after treatment by 70%.
Blood advances · 2021 · NCT02708108
These findings — that patients who did diet and exercise had much lower odds of cancer cells remaining after chemo — were published in the Blood advances and represent the headline result of the study.
Researchers tracked outcomes across 40 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.
What this means for patients
For patients with leukemia, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.
What you can do now
If your child has this type of blood cancer, ask their oncology team whether a structured diet and exercise program could help during treatment. This approach showed real promise in reducing leftover cancer cells, especially for kids who were overweight. The program focused on cutting calories by 20%, reducing fat and sugar, and staying active — and most families were able to follow it.
Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.
Open leukemia trials
A Treatment Protocol for Participants 0-45 Years With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia
The pilot study collects the experience of previously successful treatment of infants, children and young adults, with ALL from a number of well-renowned study groups into a new platform protocol, which is both a comprehensive system for stratification and treatment of ALL in this age-group as well as the basis for several randomised trials included in the study-design. The pilot study is implemented as a master protocol without study specific interventions, thus as an observational study. The pilot study is for countries/study-groups who intend to join ALLTogether1 (including experimental interventions). For these countries the pilot study is crucial to optimise diagnostics, registration systems, collaborations with vendors, logistics and data-checks before starting the main study. The study only includes "standard of care" treatment included in the master protocol.
CAR-T Cells Combined With Dasatinib for Patients With Relapsed and/or Refractory B-cell Hematological Malignancies
A Study of CD19/BCMA-targeted CAR-T Cells Combined With Dasatinib for Patients With Relapsed and/or Refractory B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, B-cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma.