Relationship between the Therapeutic Dose of Arsenic Trioxide and Relapse in Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia

OBJECTIVE:To analyze the correlation of ATO therapeutic dose with the relapse of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) and to investigate the optimal dose and courses of ATO. METHODS:The clinical data of 102 patients with APL from January 2008 to June 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. The clinical characteristics of APL patients in relapsed group and maintained remission group were compared. According to ATO dose in 2 years recommended in chinese guideline as criteria of grouping, the patients were divided into ATO high and low dose groups, then the relapse rate in groups was compared. The cut-off value of ATO dose was analyzed by ROC curve. RESULTS:Univariate analysis showed that the relapse rate in high ATO and low ATO groups on 2 year treatment was 2.5% and 17.7% respectively (P 22.4 mg/kg on 2 year treatment was independent preventive factor for the relapse of APL (OR=0.119, P 8.765 mg/kg group was significantly lower than that in group of ATO dose <8.765 mg/kg. CONCLUSION:The relapse of APL relates with used ATO dose, sufficient use of ATO dose can decrease the relapse rate of APL.