New drugs in the treatment of acute and chronic leukemia with some emphasis on m-AMSA.

Several new cytostatic drugs have entered clinical phase I-II studies for the treatment of leukemia: the most promising are pyrimidine analogs such as 5-aza-cytidine, 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine, 5-aza-cytosine arabinoside, and 2',2'-difluorodeoxycytidine. Fludarabine, a fluorinated purine analog, appears to be active in CLL and multiple myeloma. Deoxycoformycin, an adenosine analog, showed good activity in the treatment of hairy cell leukemia and T-cell neoplasias. 2-chloro-deoxyadenosine has recently been introduced into the treatment of CLL and hairy-cell leukemia refractory to deoxycoformicin. Tiazofurin, an antimetabolite which interferes with nicotine-adenine-dinucleotide (NAD) metabolism, has been applied in CML blast crisis. Other agents include 13-cis retinoic acid and 1, 25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 as differentiation inducers, and homoharringtonine, an alkylating agent which is widely used for ANLL treatment in China. Among new anthracyclines, aclarubicin, idarubicin, THP-adriamycin and fluoro-adriamycin should be mentioned. Mitoxantrone, a substituted anthraquinone, has successfully been applied in the treatment of relapsed and refractory ANLL. Amsacrine (m-AMSA), finally, is a synthetic aminoacridine which intercalates into DNA and inhibits DNA topoisomerase II. m-AMSA is not cross-resistant to anthracyclines and has been particularly active in ANLL treatment. Studies using m-AMSA alone or in combination revealed comparable results to anthracycline--containing regimens. Cardiotoxicity of the anthracycline congestive type has not been observed with m-AMSA. The EORTC Leukemia Cooperative Group has successfully used m-AMSA in several trials prepositioning this drug stepwise: from relapsed and refractory ANLL, into intensive maintenance treatment during first remission in ANLL, and, still on-going, into intensive consolidation.