title: Idarubicin in refractory acute leukemia.
abstract: 10 patients with resistant or relapsed acute leukemia (9 AML, 1 ALL) were treated with idarubicin (4-demethoxydaunorubicin) in combination with cytosine arabinoside +/- etoposide. All patients had been heavily pretreated. 9 AML-patients had previously received 2-4 cycles of TAD-9 regimen. 2 complete and 1 partial remission were achieved. 1 patient died from septicemia in bone marrow aplasia without leukemic cells. 6 patients did not respond to idarubicin-based salvage treatment. The median survival from start of therapy was 4 months. Idarubicin-based combination chemotherapy is effective in relapsed acute leukemia, even in patients intensively pretreated with anthracyclines.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003630:Daunorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005047:Etoposide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015255:Idarubicin; D007263:Infusions, Parenteral; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D003561:Cytarabine; D005047:Etoposide; D015255:Idarubicin; D003630:Daunorubicin