Alpha-interferon in combination with cytarabine in children with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.

Background: Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a rare disease in children, and the optimal therapy is not clearly defined in these patients when a human leukocyte antigen-identical donor is not available. The present work focuses on the therapeutic efficacy and the toxicity of interferon (IFN) alpha 2b in combination with cytosine arabinosine (Ara-C) in patients younger than age 18 years enrolled in the randomized trial CML 91, which compared the efficacy of IFN and cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) with IFN alone in 810 patients with CML in the chronic phase.

Patients And Methods: Twelve patients younger than age 18 years were enrolled in the randomized trial CML 91.