VP-16-based regimen in adult acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia

A new VP-16-based drug combination was utilized in the treatment of 3 adult patients with acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia. Marrow aplasia was noted in all patients on day 7. While myeloid regeneration was noted on day 14, there was no evidence of regeneration of the erythroid series before day 21 in any of the 3 patients, and maturation of this cell line was never complete before day 35. Such prolonged suppression of the erythroid series has not been described with standard chemotherapy. Because of this protracted suppressive effect of the above regimen on erythroid cells, we propose to explore its therapeutic potential in a pilot study employing such a regimen in the treatment of erythroleukemia.