Abstract
Advanced age is a poor prognostic factor in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). There is evidence that continuous low-dose chemotherapy with oral agents can achieve partial remission in AML and may be suitable as palliative therapy in elderly patients. Such low-dose treatment is usually complicated by drug-related neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) may lessen the associated neutropenia and some anecdotal reports suggest G-CSF alone may be able to induce remission in AML. The study aim was to assess the benefits of combining an oral chemotherapeutic agent with continuous G-CSF. We describe a retrospective audit of 12 elderly patients with AML, diagnosed between 2000 and 2002, who were deemed to be either unfit for induction chemotherapy or who had failed to respond to intravenous chemotherapy. Patients were treated with continuous oral mercaptopurine, thioguanine, or hydroxyurea with concomitant G-CSF on three to seven days/week. The median age at diagnosis was 80 years (range 70–89 years). Eight (67%) had a preceding myelodysplastic syndrome. Eleven of the twelve patients died within the study period described, with a median survival of 9 months (95%CI 4.32–13.75). Eleven patients (92%) had a response to treatment, with blast disappearance obtained within 14 days of starting treatment. All patients achieved an increase in neutrophil count >0.5x109/L. Neutrophil recovery was attained within a mean of 13 days of treatment. From the onset of treatment, patients had neutrophils greater than 0.5 x109/L for 71% of the time, despite being on continuous cytotoxic treatment. Five patients (42%) had a platelet response with a rise in count above 100x109/L. A total of nine (75%) patients experienced a period of platelet transfusion independence and four (33%) patients became red cell transfusion independent for a mean of 4.6 and 4.8 months respectively. The analysis of this small cohort suggests that G-CSF administered in combination with one of the above oral chemotherapeutic agents, may be a novel way of providing treatment to elderly patients with AML which is both tolerable and of potential survival benefit.