In adult acute nonlymphoblastic leukaemia extended maintenance chemotherapy has no benefit
✍ Scribed by Dr. Peter Jacobs; D. W. Dubovsky; Lucille Wood
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1984
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 721 KB
- Volume
- 16
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0361-8609
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Fifty-two consecutive and previously untreated adults with nonlymphoblastic leukaemia underwent remission induction chemotherapy with a combination of the epipodophyllotoxin VP16-213, cytosine arabinoside, and doxorubicin (Adriamycin). Complete remission was achieved in 23 of the 52 patients (44%) by means of a single course of therapy in 20 individuals, two courses in two. and three courses in one; median duration of complete remission was 48 weeks. Failure to achieve remission status was due to primary drug resistance in 13 patients (25%), and adequate trial of therapy was not possible in 16 patients (31%) owing to their late referral and accounts for the low remission rate. Individuals achieving complete remission were randomly assigned to receive either 6 (n = 8) or 15 months (n = 13) of maintenance therapy; respective median survival was 95 and 78 weeks (P > 0.10). These data confirm previously reported results for complete remission induction with this three-drug combination and fail to show any difference between short (6 months) and long (15 months) maintenance chemotherapy.