title: Acute myelogenous leukaemia: maintenance chemotherapy after early consolidation treatment does not prolong survival.
abstract: To investigate the value of maintenance chemotherapy after early consolidation treatment, an attempt was made to induce remission in 162 previously untreated patients, age-range 7-65 years (median 43). The 74 patients who were still in remission after early consolidation treatment (given for 3-5 months) were assigned to either maintenance chemotherapy every 8 weeks for 2 years or to observation only. After a median observation period of 44 months there was no difference between the groups in duration of remission or survival. Surprisingly, patients above 40 survived longer after early consolidation (median 4 years) than did patients aged 40 and below (median 1.6 years, p = 0.0002).
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000380:Agranulocytosis / Q000139:chemically induced; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000187:drug effects; D002648:Child; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011241:Prednisone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011379:Prognosis; D011897:Random Allocation; D013866:Thioguanine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000139:chemically induced; D014750:Vincristine / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D003561:Cytarabine; D014750:Vincristine; D013866:Thioguanine; D011241:Prednisone