[Non-lymphoblastic acute leukaemia: maintenance therapy by trial of a combination of chemo- and immunotherapy (author's transl)].

A trial of immunotherapy in the maintenance treatment of non-lymphoblastic acute leukaemias led to a comparison of 2 groups of patients in complete remission. Group C (14 patients) received only monthly reinduction chemotherapy. Group C + I (17 patients) received identical chemotherapy together with weekly immunotherapy combining BCG and irradiated leukaemic cells. Whilst the duration of the first remission was unmodified, the overall survival and above all survival after the first recurrence were prolonged in group C + I. These results were all the more marked when a homogeneous patients having received the same induction chemotherapy is considered.