title: Acute promyelocytic leukemia in patients aged >70 years: the cure beyond the age.
abstract: All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) has made acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) a very curable disease also in patients aged >60 years; however, there are only few case reports in very elderly APL patients. To address this issue, we reviewed treatment results in 13 patients aged >70 years with newly diagnosed APL followed at our institution from January 1991 to December 2008. According to Sanz score, seven patients were at low risk, five at intermediate risk, and one at high risk. Induction therapy consisted of ATRA + idarubicin in nine patients (3/9 with reduced idarubicin dosage) and ATRA alone in four patients; in this latter group, however, 2/4 needed to add chemotherapy (CHT) due to hyperleukocytosis during ATRA treatment. All patients achieved both morphological and molecular complete remission (CR) after a median time of 51 [interquartile range (IR) 43-55] and 114 (IR 74-155) days, respectively. Infective complications were observed in 10/13 patients, APL differentiation syndrome in 3/13 patients. Twelve patients received consolidation therapy, followed by maintenance treatment in nine patients. Five patients relapsed after 7, 8, 11, 35, and 56 months. At present, seven patients are still alive, five died due to disease progression (four) or senectus while in CR (one), and one was lost to follow-up while in CR. The 5-year event-free survival was 56.1 % (95 % CI, 26.0-86.2); the 5-year overall survival (OS) was 64.5 % (95 % CI, 35.6-93.4). ATRA-based treatment of APL is safe and effective also in very elderly patients, with long-lasting disease-free OS.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Cellulari ed Ematologia, Università "Sapienza", Via Benevento 6, 00161, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Finsinger
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Breccia
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Minotti
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Carmosino
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Girmenia
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chisini
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Volpicelli
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vozella
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Montagna
authors.forename: Gioia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Colafigli
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cimino
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Avvisati
authors.forename: Maria Concetta
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Petti
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lo-Coco
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Foà
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Latagliata
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005047:Etoposide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015255:Idarubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015473:Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D015122:Mercaptopurine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008942:Mitoxantrone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012074:Remission Induction; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D016898:Interferon-alpha; D003561:Cytarabine; D014212:Tretinoin; D005047:Etoposide; D008942:Mitoxantrone; D015122:Mercaptopurine; D015255:Idarubicin