Gemtuzumab ozogamicin
Amadori S
Hematology, University, Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
Treatment outcome for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has substantially improved over the last decade, especially in patients younger than 60 years of age who can tolerate intensified treatment strategies including hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.1 On the other hand, there has been little progress in the treatment of older patients where intensive chemotherapy regimens are associated with a lower complete remission (CR) rate, an increased risk of relapse and an inferior overall survival.2-3 Factors which have been considered important in explaining the adverse effect of age include: 1) reduced ability of older patients to withstand the morbidity associated with chemotherapy-induced marrow hypoplasia; 2) concurrent medical problems; 3) unfavourable biologic profile of the disease as documented by a high proportion of patients presenting with adverse cytogenetics, preexisting myelodysplasia, stem cell and chemoresistant phenotype. [>Read full article in PDF]