Complete remission in a patient with acute myelogenous leukemia treated with leukocyte alpha-interferon and cimetidine.
A 76-year-old woman with acute myelogenous leukemia with approximately 65% myeloblasts on bone marrow examination was treated daily with a combination of 4 megaU of leukocyte interferon IM and 1,000 mg cimetidine PO. During therapy there was a gradual decrease of bone marrow myeloblasts down to 9% and a normalization of peripheral white blood cells. The treatment was discontinued after 6 weeks because of increasing fatigue and anorexia. The general condition improved greatly during the following weeks and the patient entered complete remission, which has continued for 6 months so far. In the course of therapy there was a gradual appearance of antibodies showing a selective binding capacity to autochthonous leukemic cells with no tendency to increased binding to remission cells. The aim of this report is to stimulate a further evaluation of this form of therapy in additional AML patients whenever this might be justified as an alternative to conventional chemotherapy.
D000368:Aged; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D002927:Cimetidine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*
D007370:Interferon Type I; D002927:Cimetidine