title: Efficacy of cytarabine, aclarubicin and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (CAG) regimen compared to FLAG regimen for adult patients with relapsed/refractory Philadelphia chromosome-negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
abstract: In this study, we retrospectively assess the results in comparing the efficacies and toxicities of the three chemotherapy regimens: CAG (cytarabine, aclarubicin and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), n=87), HD-CAG (increasing the dose of aclarubicin in CAG regimen, n=73), and FLAG (fludarabine, cytarabine and G-CSF, n=41) regimens in patients with relapsed/refractory Philadelphia chromosome-negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph--ALL). Our study indicated that after one therapy course, the overall response (OR, complete reimssion (CR)+partial remission (PR)) rate was higher in CAG than that in FLAG regimen (55.2% vs. 31.7%, P=0.013), while the CR (50.7% vs. 26.8%, P =0.013) and OR (64.4% vs. 31.7%, P=0.001) rates in HD-CAG regimen were both higher than that in FLAG regimen. Furthermore, the results were more pronounced in the subgroup of patients with T cell and refractory Ph--ALL. There were no significant differences in CR and OR rates between the CAG and HD-CAG regimens. Meanwhile, the adverse effects of CAG regimen were less toxic than the FLAG and HD-CAG regimens. There were no statistically significant differences in overall survival rates at two years among the three groups (FLAG: 9.8%±4.6%, CAG: 11.8%±4.5%, HD-CAG: 11.1%±4.0%; P>0.05). Our preliminary results indicated that CAG and HD-CAG regimens could be more effective and safer than FLAG regimen for relapsed/refractory Ph--ALL.
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Jiangsu Institute of Hematology, Key laboratory of Thrombosis and Hemostasis of Ministry of Health, Collaborative Innovation Center of Hematology, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province 215006, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Jiangsu Institute of Hematology, Key laboratory of Thrombosis and Hemostasis of Ministry of Health, Collaborative Innovation Center of Hematology, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province 215006, PR China.
authors.forename: Limin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Huai'an Hospital Affiliated to Xuzhou Medical College, Huai'an Second People's Hospital, Huai'an, Jiangsu Province 223002, PR China.
authors.forename: Yanming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Jiangsu Institute of Hematology, Key laboratory of Thrombosis and Hemostasis of Ministry of Health, Collaborative Innovation Center of Hematology, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province 215006, PR China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Jiangsu Institute of Hematology, Key laboratory of Thrombosis and Hemostasis of Ministry of Health, Collaborative Innovation Center of Hematology, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province 215006, PR China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Jiangsu Institute of Hematology, Key laboratory of Thrombosis and Hemostasis of Ministry of Health, Collaborative Innovation Center of Hematology, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province 215006, PR China.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Xian Yang Central Hospital, Xianyang, Shanxi Province 712000, PR China.
authors.forename: Wenjing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Jiangsu Institute of Hematology, Key laboratory of Thrombosis and Hemostasis of Ministry of Health, Collaborative Innovation Center of Hematology, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province 215006, PR China. Electronic address: wudepei@medmail.com.cn.
authors.forename: Depei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
keywords: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia; CAG regimen; FLAG regimen; Relapsed/refractory; Salvage therapy