High-dose cytosine arabinoside plus etoposide as initial treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia: A single centre study

In a single centre, 52 newly diagnosed patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) under the age of 56 years received induction chemotherapy commencing with high-dose cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) and etoposide (Protocol BF11), followed by Ara-C, 6 thioguanine (6TG). A total of 67% of patients entered remission using these drugs. An anthracycline was added for those patients not in remission. The overall remission rate (CR) was 86. 5% (45/52), with a minimum follow-up of 90 days. Patients are hospitalised for relatively short periods, and consequentlyrequire less blood product and antibiotic support. Patients in continuing first remission following inauction with Ara-C and etoposide are similar in number to those in continuing first remission who initially received an anthracycline. This would imply that the efficiency of Ara-C and etoposide in inducing long-term disease-free survival is comparable with anthracycline-containing regimens. We conclude that high-dose Ara-C and etoposide used in the first induction cycle for treating AML have good antileukaemic effect with acceptable toxicity