Treatment of acute myeloid leukemia patients aged more than 75 years: Results of the E-AML-01 trial of the Japanese Elderly Leukemia and Lymphoma Study Group (JELLSG)

The feasibility and effects of combination chemotherapy for very elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia was examined in 65 patients ( including previous myelodysplastic syndrome) aged 76 years or morewith a performance status of 0 - 3. Induction chemotherapy was performed with 30 mg/m(2) daunorubicin on days 1 - 3, 150 mg/m(2) behenoyl cytosine arabinoside on days 1 - 7, and 70 mg/m(2) 6-mercaptopurine with 300 mg allopurinol taken orally on days 1 - 7 (BHAC-DM). The complete remission (CR) rate was 38.5%, whereas overall survival at 2 and 5 years was 22.0% and 4.7%, respectively. Two- and 5-year survival of CR patients was 41.8% and 11.2%, respectively. The relapse rate of the 25 CR patients was 64.0% and disease-free survival at 2 and 5 years was 21.0% and 11.2%, respectively. The therapy-related mortality rate at induction was 13.8%. BHAC-DM is feasible and effective for selected very elderly acute myeloid leukemia patients.