title: Remission induction with adenosine-deaminase inhibitor 2'-deoxycoformycin in Thy-lymphoblastic leukaemia.
abstract: Two patients with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukaemia of thymic phenotype (Thy-ALL) resistant to all conventional chemotherapy achieved complete remission when treated with 2'-deoxycoformycin, a selectively lymphocytotoxic compound that acts by inhibition of the enzyme adenosine deaminase. These observations show that malignant thymocytes are dependent on adenosine-deaminase activity and suggest that it may be possible to use deoxycoformycin in other patients with Thy-ALL to induce remission or to kill Thy-ALL blasts in bone marrow harvested before autologous bone-marrow transplantation, leaving normal haemopoietic stem cells intact.
mesh_terms: D000243:Adenosine Deaminase / Q000378:metabolism; D058892:Adenosine Deaminase Inhibitors; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003070:Coformycin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D009700:Nucleoside Deaminases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D015649:Pentostatin; D010641:Phenotype; D012263:Ribonucleosides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D058892:Adenosine Deaminase Inhibitors; D012263:Ribonucleosides; D003070:Coformycin; D015649:Pentostatin; D009700:Nucleoside Deaminases; D000243:Adenosine Deaminase