Leading Australian blood cancer researchers have delivered a breakthrough treatment that significantly improves survival and quality of life for young patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).
Adolescent and young adult patients (AYAs) experience a uniquely different cancer biology in their leukaemia when compared to adult and paediatric patients. Unfortunately, AYA leukaemia patients also have markedly worse survival and relapse outcomes than adults and children with ALL.
The ALL09 SUBLIME clinical trial, led by the Australasian Leukaemia & Lymphoma Group (ALLG) and member researcher Associate Professor Matthew Greenwood (Royal North Shore Hospital), replaced an intensive chemotherapy regimen with a targeted immunotherapy drug called blinatumomab, which trains the immune system to destroy leukaemia cells.
The new treatment regimen resulted in significantly higher rates of disease remission and overall survival, with 89% of patients still alive and cancer-free three years after treatment.
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Results of the ALL09 SUBLIME clinical trial were recently published in the prestigious medical journal HemaSphere, paving the way to adopt this new, less toxic, and more effective treatment for young patients with ALL worldwide.
Chief Investigator Associate Professor Matthew Greenwood said, “The results of the ALL09 SUBLIME study are very encouraging. Substituting blinatumomab for standard chemotherapy not only cleared leukaemia more effectively but was also associated with excellent survival in young adults with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).”
“These important findings support further evaluation of immunotherapy-based approaches to improve long-term outcomes for adolescent and young adult patients.”
The ALL09 SUBLIME trial was a four-year, phase 2 trial conducted across 15 hospital sites in Australia. The trial tested a new treatment regimen in 55 patients aged 15 – 39 years old with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
Researchers compared the effectiveness and toxicity of the new treatment against the previous chemotherapy-based treatment regimen, using minimal residual disease (MRD) testing to measure the depth of molecular disease remission and guide treatment. The new immunotherapy-based treatment resulted in 90.5% overall survival, compared to 74.9% with the standard of care treatment.
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ALLG researchers are now working on a new clinical trial that will use and assess new diagnostic methods and targeted treatments, aiming to further improve survival and quality of life in this young group of leukaemia patients.
Delaine Smith, ALLG Chief Executive Officer, said, “ALLG clinical trials focus not only on evaluating the effectiveness of new and innovative treatments, but also on patients’ quality of life and cost-effectiveness of therapies.
“Our cooperative group is very proud to have delivered such an impactful clinical trial for young patients with leukaemia that will lead to much-needed improvements in the standard of care across Australia and globally.”
Source: ALLG
Paper: Matthew Greenwood et al, Blinatumomab in de novo AYA ALL—Results of the Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group ALL09 “SUBLIME” study, HemaSphere (2026). DOI: 10.1002/hem3.70291
