Clinical Trial: Combined Tretinoin and Arsenic Trioxide for Patients With Newly Diagnosed Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Followed by Risk-Adapted Postremission Therapy

Study Status: Active, not recruiting
Recruit Status: Active, not recruiting
Study Type: Interventional




Official Title: Phase II Study of Combined Tretinoin and Arsenic Trioxide for Patients With Newly Diagnosed Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Followed by Risk-Adapted Postremission Therapy

Brief Summary:

The purpose of this study is to find what effects, good and/or bad, treatment with two drugs has on leukemia. The first medicine is tretinoin (also called all-trans retinoic acid, ATRA, or Vesanoid). It is an approved medicine that causes the leukemia cells in APL to mature. It is related to vitamin A. The second is arsenic trioxide (Trisenox). It is an approved medicine for APL that comes back after earlier treatment.

APL is most often treated with tretinoin and standard chemotherapy drugs. These chemotherapy drugs can cause infection and bleeding. They can also damage the heart and normal bone marrow cells. This can lead to a second leukemia years later.

In this study, the investigators are using tretinoin and arsenic trioxide together. Both drugs work to treat APL. They have been used together in only a limited number of people. The investigators want to use these drugs together to reduce the amount of standard chemotherapy and decrease side effects. The patient will receive standard chemotherapy with a drug called idarubicin only if they have a higher chance of the leukemia coming back or a higher risk of side effects.