[Three Waves of Arsenic Therapy for Leukemia and Related Innovations]

There were three waves of arsenic therapy for leukemia in the history and every time, it started with a particular medical innovation. German doctor first found that Fowler arsenic solution might improve symptoms of leukemia patients in 1865 but the therapy was never popular due to uncertainty. In 1931, American hematologists reported a series of chronic myeloid leukemia cases successfully managed by arsenic solutions , and published the pathological data supporting the specificity of arsenic action on leu- kemic cells. Not until late 1970s, after the publication of new FAB classification of leukemia, Chinese doctors from Harbin Medical University who had been exploring novel applications of traditional Chinese medi- cines, discovered that the new leukemic entity, acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) was the best indica- tion for arsenic containing remedy. The theory was supported by many APL survivors and later trials with As₂Ο₃, as a monotherapy. The Harbin Protocol was soon repeated successful in China and in the West, and As₂Ο₃, became a FDA approved new drug for APL in 2001. The discovery of arsenic therapy for APL was ap- parently not an incidental finding, but a timely advance following medical innovation. The continuing efforts in the research of traditional Chinese medicine and the teamwork of specialists in Chinese medicine, hema- tology, pathology, and pharmacology made this innovative discovery possible.