Current treatment strategies for newly diagnosed and relapsed APL

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is defined by its characteristic morphology (AML FAB M3/M3v), specific chromosomal translocation t (15;17), and molecular correlates (PML/RARα). Treatment with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) combined with chemotherapy has a high cure rate. Clinical trials with arsenic trioxide (ATO) confirmed the efficacy of ATO for patients with relapsed APL. Recently, treatment with ATRA and ATO has been shown to result in high CR rates for the majority of patients with newly diagnosed APL. Many trials have been conducted to determine the optimal schedule for ATRA in combination with ATO.