Recent advances

This month sees the first in an occasional series entitled “Recent advances” (page 438). Professor Judith Chessells from the Institute of Child Health in London looks at the continuing success story that is childhood acute leukaemia. She lists some of the more common cytogenic changes recently identified and describes new methods of measuring minimal residual disease.

 Professor Chessells reminds us how measles vaccination of children has been literally life saving for those with leukaemia and emphasises the importance of shared care. The most salutary lesson is less optimistic: the spectacular improvements in treatment leading to high survival rates are available for only a small minority of the world's children.

The fragile Welsh

No, I hadn't heard of the Tipping the Balance Toward Primary Care European Network (page 452). But there it is, in Wales and Scandinavia amongst other places. Some of its members have been looking at …