Idarubicin at Different Dosages as Induction Therapy for Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukaemia

A Phase IV, Randomized Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Idarubicin at Different Dosages Combined With Cytarabine as Induction Therapy for Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukaemia

Study Design: Treatment, Randomized, Open Label, Parallel Assignment This study is an open randomized and controlled trial aiming at assessing the efficacy and safety of Idarubicin (IDA) at different doses of 8mg/m2 and 10mg/m2 combined with cytarabine as induction therapy for newly diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). All the recruited patients are allocated to group A ( 8mg/m2 group) or group B ( 10mg/m2) in random. It is advised that induction therapy should begain not late than 3 days after randomization. The regimens in detail can be refered in the therapy protocol.

Idarubicin is a new generation of anthracyclines with high lipophilicity and is more permeable to cytomembrane and therefore is more cytotoxic to leukemic cells. It can pass through the blood brain barrier easily. so IDA has more advantages over other anthracyclines in prolonging the overall survival for AML. The induction therapy with idarubicin and cytarabine is now the first-line induction regimen for AML. Many clinical trails have indicated that the dosage of IDA is positively correlated with its effectiveness. But in China IDA has been used in varied dosages ranging from 6 to 12 mg/m2. In most Chinese hospitals, the usual dosage range of IDA is from 6 to 8 mg/m2 which may contribute to the much lower 5-year survival rates of AML reported in Chinese medical literature than those in foreign literature. What is the suitable dosage of IDA as induction therapy for Chinese AML population with the best efficacy but the lest increase of side effects? Till now there is no retrospective, randomized and multicentered clinical trails to answer this question on remission-inducing dosages of IDA. All the existing trials till now are just small- sampled , single-centered , retrospective and non-randomized which can not provide strong evidences .

This study aims at comparing two induction doses of 8mg/m2 and 10mg/m2 of IDA with the method of prospective randomized and multi-centered trial.The two doses of IDA have been used in many Chinese hospitals for many years, its effectiveness and safety have been recognized. This trail aims at the and side effects of IDA during induction therapy and its effect on the long-term survival of Chinese AML population, so it can provide strong evidences for optimal dosage of IDA for Chinese AML population.It can not only reduce the waste of medical social resources but also produce good social and economic benefits.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age: 14~60 years old;no gender limit.
• Diagnosis: according to the diagnosis standards of AML( with the exception of M3 ) ( according to 2008 WHO diagnosis criteria of AML ).
• Performance status is not bad with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score ≤3.
• Research subjects must sign the informed consent documents.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in crisis phase.
• AML transformed from other myeloproliferative diseases.
• Be accompanied with other progressing neoplasms.
• With severe malfunction of liver, lungs, kidneys or heart: the plasma levels of direct bilirubin, indirect bilirubin, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase and serum creatinine all are 2 times higher than normal, cardiac function is above grade II.
• With severe infection.