We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to the land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures and to Elders past, present and emerging.

This work is available from the Leukaemia Foundation website and from the Cancer Council website

This edition published in October 2021. ISBN: 978-0-6453299-0-2

Leukaemia Foundation and Australian Government Department of Health 2021, Optimal care pathway for children, adolescents and young adults with acute leukaemia, 1st edn, Leukaemia Foundation of Australia.

Enquiries about this publication can be sent to bloodcancerpartnerships@leukaemia.org.au.

Our thanks to the following health professionals, consumer representatives, stakeholders and organisations consulted in developing this optimal care pathway.

Dr Caroline M Bateman (Chair), Paediatric Haematologist and Oncologist, Cancer Centre for Children, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead

Dr Frank Alvaro, Paediatric Oncologist, John Hunter Children’s Hospital

Kate Arkadieff, Blood Cancer Support Coordinator, Leukaemia Foundation

Dr Nicole Armitage, Paediatric Palliative Care Specialist, Bear Cottage, Sydney Children’s Hospital Network

Justine Carder, Program Manager,

Victorian Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service, Melbourne

Dr Chris Fraser, Paediatric Oncologist, Queensland Children’s Hospital

Dr Matthew Greenwood, Haematologist and Bone Marrow Transplant Physician, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney and Northern Clinical School, University of Sydney

Dr Diane Hanna, Paediatric Oncologist and Bone Marrow Transplant Physician, The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne

Dr Ian Irving, Haematologist, Icon Group

Amber Laidler, Blood Cancer Support Coordinator, Leukaemia Foundation

Dr Michael Osborn, Haematologist, Paediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult Oncologist, Women’s and Children’s Hospital,

Royal Adelaide Hospital

Dr Bhavna Padhye, Paediatric Oncologist, Cancer Centre for Children, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead

Associate Professor Pandora Patterson, General Manager, Research, Policy, and Patient

Programs, Canteen Australia, University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Kelly Kajewski, Consumer (Parent) Representative

Tim Rogers, Head of Professional Standards and Practise, Redkite

Dr Genia Rozen, Fertility Specialist and Gynaecologist, Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne IVF, University of Melbourne

Associate Professor Kate (Catharyn) Stern, Gynaecologist, Reproductive Endocrinologist and Infertility Specialist, Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne IVF

Chris Williams, Nurse Consultant (Paediatric Oncology), Victorian Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service, Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne

Jacqueline Yates, Consumer Representative

Dr Draga Barbaric, Paediatric Oncologist and Bone Marrow Transplant Physician, Sydney Children’s Hospital, UNSW Sydney

Professor Mark Hertzberg, Haematologist, Prince of Wales Hospital, University of Sydney

Associate Professor Rishi S Kotecha, Paediatric Oncologist and Haematologist, Perth Children’s Hospital Laboratory Head, Leukaemia Translational Research Laboratory, Telethon Kids Cancer Centre, Telethon Kids Institute

Dr Sally Mapp, Haematologist, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane

Dr Leanne Super, Paediatric Oncologist, Monash Children’s Hospital, Royal Children’s Hospital, Monash University Affiliate Lecturer

Dr Meaghan Wall, Haematologist and Genetic Pathologist, Victorian Clinical Genetics Services, Haematology Society of Australia and New Zealand

Australian Capital Territory Health

Allied Health Professions Australia

Australian and New Zealand Children’s Haematology/Oncology Group

Australia and New Zealand Transplant and Cellular Therapies

Australasian Association of Nuclear Medicine Specialists

Australasian College of Emergency Medicine

Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group Australian and New Zealand Society

of Palliative Care

Australian College of Nursing

Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine

Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing

Australian Medical Association Beyond Blue

Cancer Australia

Cancer Council of Australia Cancer Council Victoria Cancer Institute NSW

Cancer Nurses Society of Australia Canteen

Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Haematology Society of Australia & New Zealand Launceston General Hospital

Leukaemia Foundation Lymphoma Australia

Medical Oncology Group of Australia Myeloma Australia

Northern Territory Department of Health

Palliative Care Australia

Private Cancer Physicians of Australia Queensland Health

Rare Cancers Australia Redkite

Royal Australasian College of Physicians

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists

Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia South Australia Health

Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

Victorian Department of Health

Western Australia Cancer and Palliative Care Network

Associate Professor Peter Mollee (Chair), Haematologist Princess Alexandra Hospital, Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group, Associate Professor, University of Queensland

Dr Caroline M Bateman, Paediatric Haematologist and Oncologist, Cancer Centre for Children, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead

Julia Brancato, Optimal Care Pathways Project Coordinator, Cancer Council Victoria

Dr Peter Diamond, Project Secretariat, Leukaemia Foundation

Associate Professor Michael Dickinson, Haematologist, Lymphoma Australia, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne

Associate Professor Anoop Enjeti, Clinical Haematologist, John Hunter Hospital, Senior Staff Haematologist, Calvary Mater Hospital, Conjoint Associate Professor, University of Newcastle

Emily Forrest, Project Secretariat, Leukaemia Foundation

Fiona Haigh, Project Secretariat, Leukaemia Foundation

Deborah Henderson, Consumer Representative

Professor Tim Hughes, Haematologist, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), University of Adelaide, Royal Adelaide Hospital

Professor Steven Lane, Clinical Haematologist, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, University of Queensland

Caroline Nehill, Director National Cancer Control, Cancer Australia

Professor H Miles Prince AM, Clinical Haematologist, Epworth Healthcare and Haematologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Professor Hang Quach, Haematologist, University of Melbourne, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne

Catriona Rafael, Project Secretariat, Leukaemia Foundation

Professor Andrew Roberts AM, Haematologist and Bone Marrow Transplant Physician, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, University of Melbourne, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

Professor John Seymour AM, Clinical Haematologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne

Delaine Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group

Professor Judith Trotman, Haematologist, Concord Repatriation General Hospital, University of Sydney

Megan Varlow, Director Cancer Control Policy, Cancer Council Australia

Dr Nicole Wong Doo, Clinical and Laboratory Haematologist, Concord Repatriation and General Hospital, University of Sydney

Our thanks also to the Blood Cancer Taskforce, which recommended the development of optimal care pathways for all the major blood cancer subtypes as part of the National Strategic Action Plan for Blood Cancer (2020). The National Action Plan was commissioned by the Federal Government and developed by the Blood Cancer Taskforce, with support from the Leukaemia Foundation.