A study of the natural history of acute leukemia with special reference to the duration of the disease and the occurrence of remissions

NOWLEDGE of the natural course of a disease is necessary for the evaluation of treatment. T h e recent stimulation of interest in the treatment of acute leukemia by chemotherapeutic agents, such as analogs of pteroylglutamic acid (folic acid),lO. 16,253 2G, ~6 1 the nitrogen inustards,~ radioactive isotopes,ls. 19, 45 and cortisone and adrenocorticotropic hormone,^^^ XJ has made necessary a more exact k n o ~~l e d g e of the course of acute leukemia, especially the duration o f the disease and the occurrence of spontaneous remissions. This paper is a summary of the course of acute Icukeinia in I73 patients treated at Memorial Center from 1926 through 1948.