title: Treatment of four patients with myelodysplastic syndrome with a small dose of aclacinomycin-A.
abstract: The effect of a small dose of aclacinomycin-A (ACR) was examined in two patients with refractory anemia (RA) and two with refractory anemia with excess of blasts in transformation (RAEB-t). ACR (7 or 14 mg/m2) was given for 10 days in a 2-h per day drip infusion. Clinical symptoms and laboratory data improved in 3 of these 4 patients. In a patient with RA, marked increase in reticulocytes and elevation of the hemoglobin level from 6 to 9 g/dl was observed after two courses of ACR therapy. In two with RAEB-t, Auer's rod bearing cells disappeared in the bone marrow and megaloblastic change of the erythroblasts was diminished in one patient. Hemoglobin levels rose from 4.7 to 10 g/dl in one, and platelets and WBC increased in another. No effect was seen in a patient with RA. The cytoreductive effect of ACR was minor compared to the therapy with small dose of cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C). Therefore, ACR warrants further consideration for the treatment of patients with MDS.
mesh_terms: D015250:Aclarubicin; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000188:drug therapy*; D009279:Naphthacenes / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D009279:Naphthacenes; D003561:Cytarabine; D015250:Aclarubicin