Abstract
Forty-one adult patients with acute myelogenous leukaemia entered remission induced by daunorubicin and cytosine arabinoside, and subsequently received 6 weeks' consolidation therapy with cyclophosphamide plus 6-thioguanine. They were then randomized to either immunotherapy consisting of intradermal BCG plus allogeneic cells or to "no maintenance". Patients receiving immunotherapy had significantly longer remission (P = 0.039) and survival from remission (P = 0.044) as assessed by the log-rank test. The median duration of first remission for 21 patients receiving immunotherapy was 35.14 weeks, compared with 19.71 weeks for 20 patients on no maintenance, and the median survival from remission was doubled in patients receiving immunotherapy. The value of adequate consolidation chemotherapy is confirmed by the comparatively long first remissions in both groups compared with our previous trials, whilst avoidance of maintenance chemotherapy possibly allowed frequent second remissions and similar post-relapse survival in patients from both treatment arms.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Freireich E. J., Keating M. J., Gehan E. A., McCredie K. B., Bodey G. P., Smith T. Therapy of acute myelogeneous leukemia. Cancer. 1978 Aug;42(2 Suppl):874–882. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197808)42:2+<874::aid-cncr2820420709>3.0.co;2-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Harris R., Zuhrie S. R., Freeman C. B., Taylor G. M., MacIver J. E., Geary C. G., Delamore I. W., Hull P. J., Tooth J. A. Active immunotherapy in acute myelogenous leukaemia and the induction of second and subsequent remissions. Br J Cancer. 1978 Feb;37(2):282–288. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1978.37. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Harris R., Zuhrie S. R., Taylor G. M., Freeman C. B., Wentzel J., Geary C., MacIver J. E. Influence of HLA, ABO, and Rh(D) on survival after remission in acute myelogenous leukaemia. Lancet. 1977 Sep 24;2(8039):653–653. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(77)92515-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Peto R., Pike M. C., Armitage P., Breslow N. E., Cox D. R., Howard S. V., Mantel N., McPherson K., Peto J., Smith P. G. Design and analysis of randomized clinical trials requiring prolonged observation of each patient. I. Introduction and design. Br J Cancer. 1976 Dec;34(6):585–612. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1976.220. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Powles R. L., Balchin L. A., Fairley G. H., Alexander P. Recognition of leukaemia cells as foreign before and after autoimmunization. Br Med J. 1971 Feb 27;1(5747):486–489. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5747.486. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Powles R. L., Russell J., Lister T. A., Oliver T., Whitehouse J. M., Malpas J., Chapuis B., Crowther D., Alexander P. Immunotherapy for acute myelogenous leukaemia: a controlled clinical study 2 1/2 years after entry of the last patient. Br J Cancer. 1977 Mar;35(3):265–272. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1977.38. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Powles R. L., Selby P. J., Palu G., Morgenstern G., McElwain T. J., Clink H. M., Alexander P. The nature of remission in acute myeloblastic leukaemia. Lancet. 1979 Sep 29;2(8144):674–676. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(79)92070-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Whittaker J. A., Slater A. J. The immunotherapy of acute myelogenous leukaemia using intravenous BCG. Br J Haematol. 1977 Feb;35(2):263–273. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2141.1977.tb00583.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]