Therapy Of Recurrent Acute Non-Lymphoblastic Leukemia In Children With Application Of Intensive Polychemotherapy And Transplantation Of Hemopoietic Stem Cells.

33 children with the first remission median 14.5 months (1-48) of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) received high doses of cytosine-arabinoside plus different combinations of etoposide, mitoxantrone, idarubicine, cyclosporin A, amsacrine, L-asparaginase, fludarabine. Transplantation of hemopoietic stem cells was conducted in 10 patients, The second remission with a median of 4.5 months (1-88+) was achieved in 22 patients (66%). 12 patients developed the second recurrence (52%). 4 children are alive in the second complete remission, Cause of death was primarily the progression of the tumor (19 of 29 patients), Overall survival was 14%; recurrence-free survival in the second remission 20%. The conclusion is that high doses of active cytostatic drugs in optimal combinations and regimens, transplantation of stem hemopoietic cells, immunotherapy fail to raise survival of children with AML recurrence above 15-20%, The majority of the patients die of the tumor progression.