Juvenile chronic myelocytic leukemia: experience with intensive combination chemotherapy.

Six children with juvenile chronic myelocytic leukemia (JCML) with adverse prognostic features were treated with intensive combination chemotherapy similar to that utilized in patients with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL). Despite obtaining hematologic remissions after induction therapy, clinical findings of extramedullary disease persisted. The use of intensive post-induction chemotherapy did not erradicate persistent extramedullary disease, and all patients developed hematologic relapse and progressive disease at a median of 8 months. The median survival of the treated patients was 15 months. The use of intensive ANLL therapy in poor prognosis JCML does not improve the survival rates reported with less intensive regimens but does have value in producing hematologic remissions that may be useful in preparing patients for bone marrow transplant.