Arsenic May Fight Rare Leukemia

90% of patients treated with pesticide went into remission

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 29, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- Arsenic may be a suitable first-line treatment for a rare form of leukemia called acute promyeloctytic leukemia (APL), an Iranian study claims.

Researchers used arsenic trioxide -- a weed killer and pesticide -- to treat 63 people newly diagnosed with APL who had received no other therapy. Over two courses of treatment, complete remission was achieved in more than 90 percent of the patients.

Currently, 88.5 percent of the patients in this ongoing study are still alive, with a mean survival time of nearly 34 months since the start of treatment. Of the 11 patients who suffered a relapse, eight went back into remission after a third treatment with arsenic trioxide. Six patients in the trial have died so far.

The results were presented Sept. 29 at a meeting of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer in Geneva.

"There have been a few studies done using arsenic trioxide on a limited number of newly diagnosed patients, but we are the first group to suggest that it is acceptable as a first-line treatment," researcher Dr. Ardeshir Ghavamzadeh, of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, said in a prepared statement.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about leukemia.

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