The Effect of Decreased-dose Idarubicin for Elderly Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Abstract

We evaluated whether reduced-dose chemotherapy with 2 days of idarubicin (12 mg/m(2)) and 5 days of cytarabine (100 mg/m(2)) (2 + 5) is effective for patients aged 65-74 by retrospectively comparing the results with those aged 55-64 treated with 3 + 7. In 1999-2009, we treated 20 patients aged 65-74 with 2 + 5, and 23 patients aged 55-64 with 3 + 7. The complete remission rates by the first induction were 50.0 and 69.6% for older and younger groups (P = 0.203). Two-year overall survival rates were 55.9 and 32.3% for older and younger groups; 2-year rates of relapse-free survival for all these patients were 15.7 and 36.5%. The differences in overall and relapse-free survival were statistically insignificant (P = 0.726 and 0.413, respectively). The treatment results of 2 + 5 for the older group were not significantly worse compared with those of 3 + 7 for the younger. Therefore, elderly patients who do not tolerate 3 + 7 should still benefit from 2 + 5.