title: Low-dose cytarabine and aclarubicin combined with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor for the treatment of relapsed or primary refractory acute lymphocytic leukemia: a retrospective study of 25 Chinese patients.
abstract: Despite improvements in treatment, the prognosis of relapsed or primary refractory acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) remains poor, and outcomes are worse in older adults with the short first complete remission (CR). Attainment of the second CR by salvage therapy would improve the survival of these patients and may enable them to undergo curative treatment with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The fact that there are diverse salvage protocols for these adult patients but without a striking CR-induction efficacy indicates that efforts are still needed to indentify new effective reinduction regimens. In this study, the CAG regimen (cytarabine, 10 mg/m(2) subcutaneously every 12 h on days 1-14; aclarubicin, 5-7 mg/m(2) intravenously daily on days 1-8; and concurrent granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, 200 µg/m(2) /day subcutaneously) was administered to 25 patients with relapsed or refractory ALL, including 11 T-cell ALL (T-ALL) and 14 B-cell (B-ALL) patients (age range, 11-61 years; median age, 26 years), to assess its efficacy as a salvage therapy. One course of the CAG regimen resulted in an overall response [CR or partial remission (PR)] rate of 64%, a CR rate of 56% and generally mild adverse effects. An overall response was observed in all 11 T-ALL patients (10 CR and 1 PR) and 35.7% of B-ALL patients (p = 0.0009). The significant treatment potential of CAG regimen for relapsed or primary refractory ALL, especially for T-ALL patients, described in this report would prepare them for a second CR to pursue longer survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China; Jiangsu Institute of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Thrombosis and Hemostasis of Ministry of Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
authors.forename: Sheng-Li
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Hong-Xia
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Jing-Ying
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Meng-Xing
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Xiao-Wen
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Yan-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: De-Pei
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D015250:Aclarubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D005260:Female; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015452:Precursor B-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016879:Salvage Therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003561:Cytarabine; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D015250:Aclarubicin
keywords: CAG regimen; acute lymphocytic leukemia; relapse; salvage therapy