Blood, 1955, Vol. 10, No. 9, pp. 875-895.
© 1955 American Society of Hematology, Inc.
The Influence of Chemotherapy on Survival in Acute
Leukemia
ARTHUR HAUT 1,
STANLEY J. ALTMAN 1,
G. E. CARTWRIGHT 1, and
M. M. WINTROBE 1
1 Department of Medicine, University of Utah, College of Medicine, Salt Lake
City.
One measure of the effectiveness of therapy in the treatment of acute leukemia
is its influence on longevity. Median survival was calculated for 103 of our own
cases and 782 cases published in the literature. These were divided into treated
and untreated groups. Separate analyses were made for several modes of therapy.
It was not possible to demonstrate that the newer therapies (folic acid antagonists, ACTH, cortisone and 6-mercaptopurine) significantly increased the total
survival in these representative groups. However, in those who achieved at least
one complete remission, the median survival had been enhanced from four and a
half to eight months, a difference which was found to be statistically significant.
Among the reasons for this rather surprising finding is the possibility that the
use of chemotherapeutic agents may fail to alter the course of acute leukemia
in some instances while prolonging it in others; the fact that of the series suitable
for analysis which were found in the literature, only one was of a more recent
date than 1952, although publications up to May 1954 were reviewed; and
finally, that the use of 6-mercaptopurine was not adequately represented in the
survey.
Submitted on February 7, 1955
Accepted on March 25, 1955
