Cytarabine and daunorubicin or idarubicin in induction therapy of Acute Myeloid Leukemia patients

Objectives: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most common form of acute leukemia, is treated by remission induction and post-remission therapy. Remission induction is usually achieved by administration of cytarabine along with an anthracycline such as Daunorubicin (DAU) or Idarubicin (IDA). Our objective was see the benefits if any of IDA over DAU in AML therapy. Methodology: Eighty adult AML patients were enrolled in this study, where 40 received DAU and 40 were treated with IDA. Remission status in each subject was studied and response to therapy was subsequently analyzed using SPSS. Results: Complete remission, partial remission and no responsive status were 15, 19, and 14 respectively for patients on DAU and 14, 18, and 11 for patients on IDA protocol. No significant benefit was detected for IDA compared to DAU in response to therapy. Conclusion: We found no benefit in using IDA over DAU in induction therapy for AML patients treated in northwest of Iran. (author)