Induction chemotherapy for newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukaemia using a regime containing cytosine arabinoside, daunorubicin and etoposide.

A total of 46 patients with previously untreated acute myeloid leukaemia were treated with an induction regimen consisting of 100 mg/m2 cytosine arabinoside given daily by 18-h i.v. infusion for 7 days, 50 mg/m2 daunorubicin given daily by i.v. bolus injection for 3 days and 75 mg/m2 etoposide given daily by 1-h i.v. infusion for 7 days. In all, 30 patients (67%) went into complete remission and were given further consolidation and maintenance chemotherapy. Of the 31 complete responders, 15 (48%) relapsed. The median disease-free survival of the 31 complete responders and the median overall survival of all 46 patients were 25 and 14 months, respectively. None of the clinical characteristics, which included sex, age, FAB morphology, extramedullary disease and initial WBC count, predicted the clinical response. Myelosuppression was the major toxicity and non-haematological side effects were acceptable. The regimen appeared to have acceptable toxicity, and its efficacy was comparable with that of standard regimens.