(September 23, 2009 - Insidermedicine)

Older adults with a type of leukemia known as AML, or acute myeloid leukemia, can benefit from doubling the dose of a chemotherapy drug used to induce remission of the disease, according to a study published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Here is some information about AML:

•    It is a cancer that starts in the bone marrow and affects cells that will become blood cells

•    From the bone marrow, it spreads to the blood and eventually to other organs of the body

•    It is a quick-progressing cancer that can be fatal in a few months without treatment

Researchers representing study groups out of Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and Belgium randomly assigned over 800 adults aged 60 to 83 years of age with AML to one of two chemotherapy regimens designed to put their condition into remission. The first regimen included the chemotherapy drug daunorubicin at a dose of 45 mg/m2. The second regimen was identical except that daunorubicin was given at a dose of 90 mg/m2.

Overall, 64% of patients in the high dose group achieved remission, compared with only 54% in the low dose group. Patients in the high dose group also attained remission sooner than those in the low dose group. While overall survival rates were similar for both groups of patients, when looking only at those aged 60-65, patients who received the higher dose of the drug had higher survival rates than those who received the lower dose. The higher dose of daunorubicin was about as well tolerated as the lower dose.

Today's research demonstrates how doubling the dose of daunorubicin used to induce remission in AML can be beneficial for older patients.