Immunotherapy with allogeneic neuraminidase-treated blasts for maintenance in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Significant prolongation of remission duration in patients receiving at least 3 cycles of therapy.
102 patients with AML (leukemia after preleukemia, 2nd neoplasia included) were treated for remission induction by a modified TAD regimen in Munster; 55 patients (54%) achieved a complete remission (CR). For CR maintenance 40 patients were eligible for randomization according to the study protocol: cyclic chemotherapy (CT) alone vs. chemoimmunotherapy (CIT: plus allogeneic Neuraminidase-treated blasts in high dosage). 5 CR patients, induced identically in Essen, were randomized additionally. Evaluating all patients randomized there is only a marginally beneficial effect of CIT (21 patients) compared to CT (24 patients) concerning median survival (1020+ vs. 612 days) and relapse-free survival (494 vs. 380 days) until now. For patients receiving more than 2 cycles of maintenance therapy, however, CIT prolongs relapse-free survival significantly (930+ vs. 409 days; p = 0,02); that is also true for remission duration. This suggests that only repeated application of blasts may induce an immune response leading to a biologically relevant antileukemic effect.
D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003630:Daunorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation; D013866:Thioguanine / Q000008:administration & dosage
D003561:Cytarabine; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D013866:Thioguanine; D003630:Daunorubicin