Comparing induction treatment regimens for patients with acute myeloid leukemia

This study aimed to investigate the safety and effectiveness of combining daunorubicin (Cerubidine) and cytarabine (Cytosar-U) compared to idarubicin (Idamycin) and cytarabine as induction treatment for patients with acute myeloid leukemia. 

This study concluded that the idarubicin and cytarabine combination was more effective in these patients. 

Induction treatment is the first treatment given for cancer. It is usually part of a standard set of treatments and can be followed by further treatment if needed. Daunorubicin and cytarabine (DC) are both chemotherapies that can be combined to provide an induction treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Another combination for induction treatment for AML is cytarabine and idarubicin (IC).  

It was unknown which combination would be more effective as induction treatment for patients with AML.  

This study analyzed data from 6 previous studies. it included 3140 patients with AML overall. Patients in these studies received either daunorubicin and cytarabine (DC) or idarubicin and cytarabine (IC) as induction treatment.  

Significantly more patients who received IC achieved complete remission (CR) compared to DC. IC led to a significantly larger number of patients to achieve CR in one course of treatment (CR1) but not in two courses (CR2) compared to DC. There was also no significant difference in the relapse rate between groups.  

Overall survival (OS) was significantly improved with IC (by 11%) treatment when compared to DC.  

There were no significant differences in the rate of serious side effects between the IC and DC groups. Common side effects were infection, heart side effects, and bleeding. 

This study concluded that IC was a more effective induction treatment for patients with AML when compared to DC. It was also recommended that IC should be the first choice for induction regimen in patients with AML.