DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia

  • T- or B-precursor lineage
  • In first bone marrow remission (M1 by morphology) AND duration of first complete remission ≥ 18 months from time of initial diagnosis

• First isolated CNS and/or testicular relapse

  • Isolated CNS relapse, as defined by 1 of the following:

    • WBC ≥ 5/mm^3 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with blasts present on cytospin

    • Any number of WBC in CSF with immunophenotypic proof of leukemic relapse, defined by the following:

      • Identifiable blasts AND 1 of the following:

        • B-lineage (TdT OR CD-10-positive on 2 consecutive CSF samples obtained 4 weeks apart)
        • T-lineage (TdT AND CD-7 OR TdT positivity alone on 2 consecutive CSF samples obtained 4 weeks apart)
  • Isolated testicular relapse, defined as biopsy proven testicular involvement
• No Down syndrome
• No known optic nerve and/or retinal involvement

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

• 18 months to 29 years at relapse

Performance status

• Karnofsky 30-100% (for patients > 16 years of age) OR
• Lansky 30-100% (for patients ≤ 16 years of age)

Life expectancy

• Not specified

Hematopoietic

• Not specified

Hepatic

• Not specified

Renal

• Creatinine adjusted according to age as follows:

  • No greater than 0.4 mg/dL (≤ 5 months)
  • No greater than 0.5 mg/dL (6 months -11 months)
  • No greater than 0.6 mg/dL (1 year-23 months)
  • No greater than 0.8 mg/dL (2 years-5 years)
  • No greater than 1.0 mg/dL (6 years-9 years)
  • No greater than 1.2 mg/dL (10 years-12 years)
  • No greater than 1.4 mg/dL (13 years and over [female])
  • No greater than 1.5 mg/dL (13 years to 15 years [male])
  • No greater than 1.7 mg/dL (16 years and over [male]) OR
• Creatinine clearance or radioisotope glomerular filtration rate at least 70 mL/min

Cardiovascular

• Shortening fraction ≥ 27% by echocardiogram OR
• Ejection fraction ≥ 50% by MUGA

Other

• Not pregnant or nursing

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

• No prior bone marrow transplantation

Chemotherapy

• Prior total anthracycline dosage ≤ 360 mg/m^2

Endocrine therapy

• Not specified

Radiotherapy

• Not specified

Surgery

• Not specified

Other

• No prior systemic therapy for concurrent extramedullary relapse