title: Treatment of refractory or relapsed adult acute leukemia by using mitoxantrone-containing regimens.
abstract: Twenty-eight adult patients with primary refractory or relapsed acute leukemia were treated. The regimens consisted of mitoxantrone plus cytosine arabinoside for 17 patients with acute non-lymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) and mitoxantrone accompanied with vincristine and prednisolone for 11 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In primary refractory patients, 1 of the 4 (25%) ANLL and 1 of the 3 (33%) ALL attained complete remission (CR). Excluding 2 patients who underwent bone marrow transplantation, 8 of the 13 (62%) relapsed ANLL and 4 of the 8 (50%) relapsed ALL achieved CR with a median duration of remission of 6.2 months and 3.8 months, respectively. Myelosuppression occurred in all treatment courses and was associated with pyrexia due to infections in 84% of the cases. Nausea, vomiting and stomatitis were mild. Abnormal liver function tests were observed in 8 (28%) patients. One patient, pretreated with 550 mg/m2 of doxorubicin, developed congestive heart failure. The results suggest that mitoxantrone is of value in the treatment of Chinese patients with refractory or relapsed acute leukemia.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Y C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Tien
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000139:chemically induced; D006801:Humans; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008942:Mitoxantrone / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D008942:Mitoxantrone