Etoposide in remission induction of adult acute myeloid leukemia

96 consecutive acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patients were analyzed retrospectively with regard to the regimen used for remission induction. 35 patients received daunorubicin for 3 days, cytosine arabinoside and 6-thioguanine for 7 days. 61 were treated with the same regimen but 6-thioguanine was replaced by etoposide. Complete remission was achieved in 57 and 72% of patients, respectively (p = 0.06). In leukemias with monocytic phenotype (M4-M5), the remission rate was significantly higher with the etoposide-containing regimen (p = 0.02). Our findings suggest that the replacement of thioguanine by etoposide could be useful in induction therapy of AML.