Long-term survivors of adult acute nonlymphocytic leukemia: fact or fiction?

From 1970 to 1982, remission rates from large series of patients with a median age of approximately 50 years continue to exceed 50% and in series of younger patients may be as high as 75%. These improved results have been due to the combination of cytosar and an anthracycline in RI programs. The current major question is whether or not "consolidation" therapy has improved long-term disease-free survival. Our current results, covering the decade 1970-1980 and using more and more intensive RC programs, do not demonstrate an increase in the percentage of long-term survivors. The results from 1980 to 1982 are encouraging, but must be tempered by the fact that late relapses of adult ANLL are becoming more frequent and 2-year follow-up is much too short an evaluation period. In addition, the prolonged survival in program D may be due to the more intensive RI program and not at all related to the RC. At the present time, our experience lends no support to the theory that more intensive RC programs meaningfully prolong long-term survival.