Down Syndrome Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Down Syndrome, including details on education, symptoms, treatment, information.

Prospective study of a pirarubicin, intermediate-dose cytarabine, and etoposide regimen in children with Down syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia: the Japanese Childhood AML Cooperative Study Group.

Kudo K, Kojima S, Tabuchi K, Yabe H, Tawa A, Imaizumi M, Hanada R, Hamamoto K, Kobayashi R, Morimoto A, Nakayama H, Tsuchida M, Horibe K, Kigasawa H, Tsukimoto I,

Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan. kazukok@md.tsukuba.ac.jp

PURPOSE: To evaluate a less intensive chemotherapeutic regimen specifically designed for patients with Down syndrome (DS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and to determine the prognostic factors for event-free survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventy-two patients with AML-DS were treated with remission induction chemotherapy consisting of pirarubicin (25 mg/m2/d for 2 days), cytarabine (100 mg/m2/d for 7 days), and etoposide (150 mg/m2/d for 3 days). Patients received four courses of intensification therapy of the same regimen. Prophylaxis for CNS leukemia was not included. RESULTS: All but two patients were younger than 4 years, and 67 of the 72 patients (93%) were diagnosed as acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL). Seventy of the 72 patients (97.2%) achieved a complete remission (CR), and the estimated 4-year event-free survival (EFS) rate was 83% +/- 9%. Nine patients relapsed, and one died as a result of pneumonia during CR. Multivariate analysis revealed that the presence of monosomy 7 was a greater risk factor of adverse outcome (odds ratio = 5.67; P = .027). CONCLUSION: A less intensive chemotherapeutic regimen produces excellent outcomes in standard-risk AML-DS patient. Risk-oriented therapy should be considered for future trials in AML-DS.

Published 30 November 2007 in J Clin Oncol, 25(34): 5442-7.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Down Syndrome Research Today. All Rights Reserved.