Low-dose Ara-C in myelodysplastic syndromes and acute nonlymphoid leukemia. Experience with seven patients

• Published in: Haematology and blood transfusion Vol. 30; p. 315
• Main Authors: Bruzzese, L, Abbadessa, A, Ottaiano, L, Arcidiacone, G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany 1987
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Adult; Aged; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Cytarabine - administration & dosage; Cytarabine - therapeutic use; Humans; Leukemia - drug therapy; Male; Middle Aged; Myelodysplastic Syndromes - drug therapy
• ISSN: 0171-7111
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-71213-5_48

Seven patients were treated with low dose Ara-C (LDAC). Five patients had acute nonlymphoid leukemia (ANLL), two patients had myelodisplastic syndrome (MDS): refractory anemia (RA) and refractory anemia with excess of blasts in transformation (RAEB-t). Ara-C treatment was given by s.c. injections at a dose of 10-11 mg/m2 every 12 h and only on two occasions by continuous infusion. No improvement, or limited improvement, was observed in five patients and they died of leukemia or of disease-related complications. Two patients with ANLL achieved remission: the first patient after bone marrow aplasia, the second without aplasia but with morphologic evidence of granulocytic differentiation of leukemic cells.