Short courses of cytosine arabinoside and L-asparaginase in children with acute leukemia

Courses of cytosine arabinoside followed by L-asparaginase were administered for 4 days each to 17 children with previously treated acute lymphatic leukemia, at 14- to 27-day intervals. Complete or partial remission occurred in 81% of patients after the third or fourth course of therapy. Maintenance therapy with the same drugs administered at 21- to 33-day intervals was given to 11 patients. The mean duration of maintenance to hematologic relapse was 14 weeks. The most serious side effects of treatment were neutropenia and allergic reactions. The administration of these two drugs produced remission in a higher proportion of cases than with either drug used alone, but was no more effective in remission maintenance.