Interpretation of Chinese and international guidelines of acute promyelocytic leukemia

Abstract

The therapy of acute promyelocytic leukemia(APL)with all-trans retinoic acid and arsenic trioxide was first discovered in China, which made a great contribution worldwide to APL treatment. However, foreign guidelines did not include the Chinese chemotherapy regimens, and our regimens were inconsistent with foreign guidelines. Therefore, it is necessary to interpret the home and international guidelines and to explore standard treatment of APL by analyzing APL guidelines of the China, Europe and the United States. Owing to several discrepancies between domestic and foreign APL guidelines, unifying the APL's diagnosis and treatment standard is desperately needed at present according to the evidence-based medicine. It is hoped that Chinese chemotherapy regimens will be more acceptable to other countries of the world, and would benefit the diagnosis and treatment of human APL. Key words: Leukemia, promyelocytic, acute; Guideline; European Society for Medical Oncology; National Comprehensive Cancer Network