Cancer Health Center

Note: Some citations in the text of this section are followed by a level of evidence. The PDQ editorial boards use a formal ranking system to help the reader judge the strength of evidence linked to the reported results of a therapeutic strategy. (Refer to the PDQ summary on Levels of Evidence for more information.)

The two-drug regimen of daunorubicin given in conjunction with cytarabine will result in a complete response rate of approximately 65%. Some physicians opt to add a third drug, thioguanine, to this regimen, though little evidence is available to conclude that this three-drug regimen is better therapy. One study suggested that the addition of etoposide during induction therapy may improve response duration.[1] Idarubicin appeared to be more effective than daunorubicin, particularly in younger adults, though the doses of idarubicin and daunorubicin may not have been equivalent.[2,3,4,5] No significant survival difference between daunorubicin and mitoxantrone has been reported.[6]

The role of high-dose cytarabine in induction therapy is controversial; randomized trials have shown prolongation of disease-free survival [7,8] or no effect [9,10] compared with conventionally dosed cytarabine-based induction chemotherapy. Post hoc analyses of two negative trials suggested potential benefit for the intensified therapy in subsets of patients at high risk for treatment failure;[9,10] however, an analysis of a subset of patients with complex cytogenetic abnormalities treated in a randomized multicenter trial in Germany showed improvement in complete remission (CR) rate with minimal improvement in event-free survival (EFS) (CR = 56% vs. 23%; P = .04; median EFS = 1 month vs. 2 months; P = .04).[11][Level of evidence: 1iiDii]

AML arising from myelodysplasia or secondary to previous cytotoxic chemotherapy has a lower rate of remission than de novo AML. A retrospective analysis of patients undergoing allogeneic BMT in this setting showed that the long-term survival for such patients was identical regardless of whether or not patients had received remission induction therapy (disease-free survival was approximately 20%). These data suggest that patients with these subsets of leukemia may be treated primarily with allogeneic BMT if their overall performance status is adequate, potentially sparing patients the added toxic effect of induction chemotherapy.[12][Level of evidence: 3iiiDii]

Older adults who decline intensive remission induction therapy or are considered unfit for intensive remission induction therapy may derive benefit from low-dose cytarabine, administered twice daily for 10 days in cycles repeated every 4 to 6 weeks. The complete remission rate using this regimen was 18% compared to 1% for patients treated with hydroxyurea (P = .006).[13] Survival with low-dose cytarabine was better than survival was with hydroxyurea (OR = 0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.44-0.81; P = .009).[13][Level of evidence: 1iiA]

Supportive care during remission induction treatment should routinely include red blood cell and platelet transfusions when appropriate.[14,15] Empiric broad spectrum antimicrobial therapy is an absolute necessity for febrile patients who are profoundly neutropenic.[16,17] Careful instruction in personal hygiene, dental care, and recognition of early signs of infection are appropriate in all patients. Elaborate isolation facilities (including filtered air, sterile food, and gut flora sterilization) are not routinely indicated but may benefit transplant patients.[18,19] Rapid marrow ablation with consequent earlier marrow regeneration decreases morbidity and mortality. Prophylactic oral antibiotics may be appropriate in patients with expected prolonged, profound granulocytopenia (<100/mm³ for 2 weeks).[20] Norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin have been shown to decrease the incidence of gram-negative infection and time to first fever in randomized trials. The combination of ofloxacin and rifampin has proven superior to norfloxacin in decreasing the incidence of documented granulocytopenic infection.[21,22,23] Serial surveillance cultures may be helpful in such patients to detect the presence or acquisition of resistant organisms.