title: Longterm effects of prolonged maintenance and of very early intensification chemotherapy in AML: data from AMLCG.
abstract: In order to further improve the cure rate in AML we investigated the effect of more chemotherapy--in terms of its intensity and its duration--in 2 studies. In our 1981 study patients received TAD 1-2 courses for induction, 1 course for consolidation and randomly no further treatment or monthly myelosuppressive maintenance for 3 years. Evaluating 213 responders remission duration was clearly longer in the maintenance group with 24% CCR after 5 and 10 years. In our 1985 study the same successful strategy was further intensified by a second induction course given regardless of response to the first course to all patients up to 60 years of age while older patients received standard induction as before. This age-adapted concept resulted in a further increase of 5 years CCR in the 461 responders to as much as 34% not achieved for unselected patients in other multicenter trials. 20 patients receiving auto-BMT in first CR show the same relapse free survival as their counterparts receiving chemotherapy according to the 1985 protocol in a matched-pair analysis. We conclude that both very early intensification and prolonged maintenance contribute to a higher cure rate that is not further improved even by a maximum intensity short-term treatment. The limits of chemotherapy in AML may be overcome by modulating its myelotoxicity and antileukemic potency using GM-CSF as shown in 2 studies of our group.
authors.affiliation: Dept. Hematology/Onkologie, University of Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Büchner
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hiddemann
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wörmann
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Löffler
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Maschmeyer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hossfeld
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Ludwig
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nowrousian
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aul
authors.forename: U W
authors.initials: UW
authors.lastname: Schaefer
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003630:Daunorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D006801:Humans; D007951:Leukemia, Myeloid / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D012074:Remission Induction; D013866:Thioguanine / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D003561:Cytarabine; D013866:Thioguanine; D003630:Daunorubicin