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Arsenic-Containing Qinghuang Powder (青黄散) Is An Alternative Treatment for Elderly Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients Refusing Low-Intensity Chemotherapy

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Abstract

Objective

To analyze the overall survival (OS) of elderly acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients treated with oral arsenic-containing Qinghuang Powder (青黄散, QHP) or low-intensity chemotherapy (LIC).

Methods

Forty-two elderly AML patients treated with intravenous or subcutaneous LIC (1 month for each course, at least 3 courses) or oral QHP (3 months for each course, at least 2 courses) were retrospectively analyzed from January 2015 to December 2017. The main endpoints of analysis were OS and 1-, 2-, 3-year OS rates of patients, respectively. And the adverse reactions induding bone marrow suppression, digestive tract discomfort and myocardia injury were observed.

Results

Out of 42 elderly AML patients, 22 received LIC treatment and 20 received QHP treatment, according to patients’ preference. There was no significant difference on OS between LIC and QHP patients (13.0 months vs. 13.5 months, >0.05). There was no significant difference on OS rates between LIC and QHP groups at 1 year (59.1% vs. 70.0%), 2 years (13.6% vs. 15%), and 3 years (4.6% vs. 5.0%, all >0.05). Furthermore, there was no significant difference of OS on prognosis stratification of performance status > 2 (12 months vs. 12 months), age> 75 year-old (12.0 months vs. 12.5 months), hematopoietic stem cell transplant comorbidity index >2 (12 months vs. 13 months), poor cytogenetics (12 months vs. 8 months), and diagnosis of secondary AML (10 months vs. 14 months) between LIC and QHP patients (>0.05).

Conclusion

QHP may be an alternative treatment for elderly AML patients refusing LIC therapy.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank WU Xiao-sheng from Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Mayo Clinic College Medicine, and Maria Rife from Xavier University, in English checking.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100091, China

    Teng Fan, Ri-cheng Quan, Wei-yi Liu, Hai-yan Xiao, Xu-dong Tang, Chi Liu, Liu Li, Yan Lv, Hong-zhi Wang, Yong-gang Xu, Xiao-qing Guo & Xiao-mei Hu

  2. Graduate School, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China

    Teng Fan

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  1. Teng Fan
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  2. Ri-cheng Quan
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Contributions

HU XM contributed to the study design. Fan T, Liu WY and Hu XM wrote the manuscript. Quan RC, Xiao HY, Tang XD, Liu C, Li L, LV Y and Hu XM conducted the clinical research. Wang HZ, Xu YG, and GUO XQ performed the experiments. All authors have read and agreed to the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiao-mei Hu.

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No competing financial interests exist.

Additional information

Supported by Special Grants of Clinical Research Base of Traditional Chinese Medicine, State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (No. JDZX2012180)

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Fan, T., Quan, Rc., Liu, Wy. et al. Arsenic-Containing Qinghuang Powder (青黄散) Is An Alternative Treatment for Elderly Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients Refusing Low-Intensity Chemotherapy. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 26, 339–344 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-019-3050-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-019-3050-6

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