Long-term remission in acute lymphoid leukemia patients on maintenance chemoimmunotherapy

Comparative effectiveness of maintenance chemo- and chemo-immunotherapy with Soviet strain of BCG vaccine was studied on 75 children with acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL). The patients were divided in two groups: I -- 25 patients received maintenance chemotherapy plus BCG; II -- 50 patients were given sole form of maintenance chemotherapy. Median duration of remission in the group I -- 36.3 +/- 4.2 months; in the group II -- 13.8 +/- 1.9 (p less than 0.001); median duration of life -- 45.1 +/- 3.7 and 23.9 +/- 3.3 (p less than 0.001) respectively. In 6 out of 25 patients (group I) the first complete remission continues for more than 6 years (median duration of remission -- 82.5 and life -- 85.3 months). In the group II the first remission continues only in 1 patient out of 50.