Purpose

This phase III trial studies combination chemotherapy with or without lestaurtinib with to see how well they work in treating younger patients with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of stop cancer cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Lestaurtinib may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. It is not yet known whether combination chemotherapy is more effective with or without lestaurtinib in treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia.