Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia receiving maintenance therapy who lived in extreme poverty had nearly double the risk for relapse compared with children who did not live in extreme poverty, according to data published in Blood.
Poor adherence to mercaptopurine did not fully explain the association, researchers wrote.
“This highlights the negative effects social determinants of health, such as poverty, have on children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia,” Aman Wadhwa, MD, MSPH, pediatric oncologist and health sciences researcher in the division of pediatric hematology and