Acute promyelocytaire leukemie bij kinderen in Nederland: Therapie en uitkomst

The prognosis of pediatric acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) improved during the last decade because of the addition of ATRA (all-trans retinoic acid) to therapy. To prevent early death of the patients, it is important to administer ATRA after diagnosis as quickly as possible. A disadvantage of ATRA is the occurrence of toxicity, like ATRA-syndrome. Between 1983 and 2004, seventeen Dutch children were diagnosed with APL. The first seven patients were not treated with ATRA, the other ten patients were. A clear difference in five-year overall survival between the group treated with ATRA and the group not treated with ATRA, is found (60% versus 43%, p=o.22). In 2007 a Dutch protocol for the treatment of APL has been introduced. Among other things, intensive use of ATRA-therapy has to improve the prognosis of APL.