Daunorubicin‐prednisone remission induction with hydroxyurea maintenance in acute non‐lymphocytic leukemia

Forty‐five adults with acute non‐lymphocytic leukemia were treated with daunorubicin and prednisone. Twelve complete and four partial remissions were obtained. On hydroxyurea maintenance, remissions lasted a median of 6 months. The most important factors influencing remission induction were age and sex, and pretreatment absolute blast count. All 14 men over the age of 40 failed to respond while 50% of all other patients responded. Patients with low absolute blast counts were more likely to respond. A review of the literature reveals a similar overall complete remission rate of 26% using daunorubicin alone; thus adding prednisone to daunorubicin does not appear to increase the percentage of complete remissions. Hydroxyurea resulted in longer remissions than have been previously reported following daunorubicin induction; it merits further investigation as a maintenance agent.