Sidney Farber and the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia with a chemotherapeutic agent

Abstract

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common malignancy affecting children accounting for approximately 30% of childhood cancers, which was uniformly fatal before the advent of effective chemotherapy. In this historical note, the fundamental contribution of Sidney Farber to the treatment of ALL by using, for the first time, aminopterin-a chemotherapeutic agent-has been recognized.