title: A homoharringtonine-based induction regimen for the treatment of elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia: a single center experience from China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The response to remission induction in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains poor. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of a plant alkaloid, homoharringtonine, in combination with cytarabine as an induction therapy for AML in elderly patients (> or =60 years).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-three patients were treated with the HA regimen consisting of homoharringtonine (2 mg/m2/day for 7 days) and cytarabine (Ara-C, 100 mg/m2/day for 7 days). The overall response rate was 56.5% with complete remission (CR) rate of 39.1% and partial remission of 17.4%. There was no early death in this cohort of patients. The estimated median overall survival (OS) time of all patients was (12.0 +/- 3.0) months. The estimated OS time of the CR patients was 15 months. The estimated one-year OS rate of all patients treated with HA protocol was (49.3 +/- 13.5) %. The estimated one-year OS rate of the CR patients was (62.5 +/- 17.1) %.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HA is a suitable induction regimen for elderly patients with AML, with relatively low toxicity and reasonable response rate.
authors: Department of Hematology, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, PR China. jmwang@medmail.com.cn
authors: Jianmin
authors: J
authors: Wang
authors: Shuqing
authors: S
authors: Lü
authors: Jianmin
authors: J
authors: Yang
authors: Xianmin
authors: X
authors: Song
authors: Li
authors: L
authors: Chen
authors: Chongmei
authors: C
authors: Huang
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Hou
authors: Weiping
authors: W
authors: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D006248:Harringtonines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000077863:Homoharringtonine; D006801:Humans; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality; D008875:Middle Aged; D012074:Remission Induction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D006248:Harringtonines; D003561:Cytarabine; D000077863:Homoharringtonine