PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:
I. To determine if the 48-hour trough serum asparaginase activity is ? 0.1 IU/mL in young patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with Erwinia asparaginase after allergy to PEG-asparaginase.
II. To determine the frequency of asparaginase-related toxicity in these patients.
III. To characterize the pharmacokinetics of Erwinia asparaginase in these patients.
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:
I. To compare serum asparaginase activity and serum asparagine concentration between patients treated with Erwinia asparaginase on this trial and historical controls treated with PEG-asparaginase on CCG-1961 and CCG-1962.
II. To determine the 72-hour serum asparaginase activity on days 8 or 11 or 13 based on the starting date of Erwinia asparaginase therapy.
III. To determine the presence of anti-Erwinia asparaginase antibodies in patients treated with a course(s) of Erwinia asparaginase following clinical allergy to PEG-asparaginase (PEG, pegaspargase).
IV. To determine if serum asparagine is adequately depleted on days 12 or 13 in a subset of these patients.
OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.
Patients receive 6 doses of Erwinia asparaginase intramuscularly (IM) on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule as a replacement for each scheduled dose of PEG-asparaginase remaining on the original treatment protocol. All other chemotherapy continues according to the original treatment protocol.
Blood samples are collected periodically for pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and antibody studies.
After completion of study treatment, patients are followed periodically.
