Cytarabine (Ara-C) in Children With Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL)
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2017-02-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Several groups, especially the PETHEMA group (in their LPA96 and 99 trials), obtained low
relapse rates in newly diagnosed Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) patients by combining
ll-transretinoic acid (ATRA) and anthracyclines without Ara-C, suggesting that avoiding Ara-C
in the chemotherapy of APL reduced treatment toxicity without increasing relapses. While the
relapse rate for the children with white blood cell(WBC) counts greater than 10×109/L at
presentation were higher than those WBC counts less than 10×109/L (31% and 3.5%,respectively)
in the LPA96 and 99 trials. A recent adult randomized trial show that avoiding Ara-C leads to
an increased risk of relapse in the APL patients with WBC counts less than 10×109/L. The role
of the Ara-C remains controversial. And there are very limited data reported on children with
APL so far.