A homoharringtonine-based induction regimen for the treatment of elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia: a single center experience from China

Background and purpose: The response to remission induction in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains poor. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of a plant alkaloid, homoharringtonine, in combination with cytarabine as an induction therapy for AML in elderly patients (>= 60 years). Results: Twenty-three patients were treated with the HA regimen consisting of homoharringtonine (2 mg/m(2)/day for 7 days) and cytarabine (Ara-C, 100 mg/m(2)/day for 7 days). The overall response rate was 56.5% with complete remission (CR) rate of 39.1% and partial remission of 17.4%. There was no early death in this cohort of patients. The estimated median overall survival (OS) time of all patients was (12.0 +/- 3.0) months. The estimated OS time of the CR patients was 15 months. The estimated one-year OS rate of all patients treated with HA protocol was (49.3 +/- 13.5) %. The estimated one-year OS rate of the CR patients was (62.5 +/- 17.1) %. Conclusion: HA is a suitable induction regimen for elderly patients with AML, with relatively low toxicity and reasonable response rate.