Consolidation therapy with high-dose cytarabine and daunorubicin for prolonged disease free survival in acute myelocytic leukemia

In order to study the effect of consolidation therapy with high-dose cytarabine (Ara-C) and daunorubicin (DNR) for prolonged disease free survival (DFS) in acute myelocytic leukemia (AML), 51 patients with AML in remission were treated with this method. Ara-C at a dosage of 1.3g/m2 administered in 2-hour intravenous infusion every 12 hours for 10 doses. After the treatment of Ara-C, DNR was given at a daily dose of 45 mg/m2 in rapid intravenous infusion for two days. The median duration of complete remission (CR) was 32 (8.2-110) months. The duration of DFS was more than 3 years in 21 patients (41.18%) and more than 2 years in 35 (68.63%). In a control group, however, the median duration of CR was 10 months and the rates of patients with DFS more than 3 and 2 years were 12.5% and 21.8% respectively. It is shown that high-dose consolidation chemotherapy is an effective method to prolong DFS in patients with AML. Toxicities of high-dose Ara-C and DNR can be tolerated by patients with AML.