Background: Continuous improvement in the remission rate of acute myelogenous leukemia has been contributed by the introduction of anthracycline, daunorubicin. But
despite of improved remission rate, only 15 to 25% of all adults found to have acute myelogenous leukemia may be expected to be alive 2 years following their diagnosis. It
is generally accepted that failure to cure leukemia is drug resistant thus, various investigational approaches have also been focused on more active agents to overcome
drug resistant. Idarubicin, synthetic daunorubicin analogue among the developed numerous drugs appears the most promising with clinical randomized study.
Methods: Induction therapy : Twenty five patients with previously untreated acute myelogenous leukemia received a course of 12mg/m2Idarubicin daily as
intravenous bolus for three consecutive days with Cytosine arabinoside at 200mg/m2 by continuous intravenous infusion daily for seven consecutive days. The second course of treatment was permitted if leukemia persisted on 22 days after treatment. Consolidation therapy : Two cycles of consolidation chemotherapy was
infused at least 4 weeks following remission, Cytosine arabinoside at 100mg/m2 by intravenous infusion daily for consecutive five days, and Idarubicin at 12mg/m2 as intravenously bolus for two consecutive days. Maintenance therapy : Those patients completing consolidation therapy, Regimen A(Cytosine arabinoside, Idarubicin) and Regimen B(Cytosine arabinoside, Daunorubi-cin, vincristin, prednisolone) was infused alternately. Toxicity : Toxicity was graded
according to the ECOG criteria.
Results: Twenty two patients are evaluable and complete remission was achieved in 16 of 22(73%). Five patients required two courses of therapy and time to complete
remission CR was 36 days(29-102 days) Six patients died of refractory cytopenia, of four patients died early in the induction phase. As regards non- hematologic toxicity of
induction regimen, alopecia and nausea & vomiting were the most frequently encountered side effect, whereas the incidence of cardiomyopathy was not appeared. As regards hematologic side effect, granulocytopenic period was 36 days(22-68 days) and thrombocytopenic period was 33 days(11-55 days).
Conclusion: Combination chemotherapy with Cytosine arabinoside and Idarubicine is effective regimen for previously untreated acute myelogenous leukemia.

Keywords: Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, Idarubicin, Cytosine Arabinoside,