Early consolidation chemotherapy for adults with acute leukemia in remission.

Three courses of intensive consolidation therapy were administered to 13 patients with acute leukemia after they achieved complete remission. The patients were randomly allocated to receive their therapy in or out of a protected environment unit and with or without antibiotic prophylaxis. The results suggest that the protected-environment-prophylactic-antibiotic program may have protected the patients from infection, although the numbers in each group are too small for meaningful comparison. However, early consolidation therapy was not beneficial, since the duration of remission and survival of these patients was less than that of a group of comparable patients who received only conventional maintenance therapy.