title: Etoposide in the treatment of leukemias.
abstract: Etoposide (VP16-213), a topoisomerase II inhibitor, has produced complete responses in 17% of previously treated patients with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) but has little activity in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. As salvage therapy for relapsed ANLL etoposide produces 28% complete responses in combination with amsacrine, 49% with 5-azacytidine, and 51% with anthracycline. It has been successfully combined with high-dose cytarabine as a salvage treatment. In a randomized trial in previously untreated patients with ANLL, etoposide significantly prolonged remission duration. Etoposide has been used to intensify postinduction therapy with or without bone marrow rescue, but its exact role in that setting has not been clarified. Because of its schedule dependency in other tumors, etoposide should be investigated using different schedules in ANLL.
authors: Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
authors: J F
authors: JF
authors: Bishop
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D005047:Etoposide / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D005047:Etoposide