[Results of therapy in acute leukemia in adults. Comparison of different combinations of cytotoxic drugs].

In 67 patients with acute leukemia 76 treatment-series were performed which were analyzed to evaluate whether chemotherapy has brought some progress during the past years. With 67 sufficient treatments a total of 26 remissions were achieved. VIDaP-scheme with 43 p.c. and cytosinarabinosid with 46 p.c. were significantly superior to the older scheme methotrexat-purinethol-prednisone with only 29 p.c. remissions. A remarkable deterioration of prognosis with increasing age rises the question whether treatment with cytotoxic drugs should be tried in patients more than 60 years old. Remission rate in patients below 20 was especially high with 71 p.c. so that the well-known good prognosis of juvenile leukemia can be extended with some limitations until age 20.