High-dose cytosine arabinoside for acute nonlymphocytic leukemia.

Eighteen patients with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL), aged 17-73 years, were treated with high-dose cytosine arabinoside (HD-Ara-C) using 3 g/m2 IV q 12 hours X 12 doses. Seven patients were treated for relapse and four (57%) obtained a complete remission with a median duration of 19.5 weeks. In nine patients, refractory to conventional chemotherapy, no complete responders were observed. Treatment failure was most commonly due to drug resistance. Two elderly patients with ANLL not previously exposed to chemotherapy died during the initial induction. Recent data on the HD-Ara-C experience in ANLL are presented and compared with this study.