Journal of Blood Disorders & Transfusion

Treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia: Success and challenges

5^th World Hematologists Congress

August 18-19, 2016 London, UK

Mario Frank Farrugia

University of Malta, Malta

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Blood Disord Transfus

Abstract:

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a specific subtype of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). With the development of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), arsenic trioxide (ATO) and anthracycline regimens APL is now considered as a subtype with a successful outcome. In this review the current approaches to the care of low-risk patients entailing an ATRA-ATO combination regimen, which is superior to ATRA-chemotherapy will be described and reviewed. Novel treatments which have been shown to exhibit a degree of success in-vitro such as Tamibarotene, a synthetic retinoid that is ten times more potent in inducing differentiation of NB-4 and HL-60 cells in-vitro compared to ATRA will also be alluded. Despite a high remission of around 80%, key bottlenecks and challenges remaining in the treatment of APL such as the high incidence of early hemorrhagic death and resistance to treatment will be described. The treatments of high-risk patients which are available but which still need refinement also will be described. Improvement of the early death rates in APL is crucial. Relevant medical teams should be educated to enable a rapid diagnosis, particularly in adolescents and initiation of ATRA and other supportive treatment. Various recommendations such as the importance of the use of diagnostic tools to improve detection of mutations associated with a poor outcome of ATRA-ATO treatment, molecular tools to detect minimal residual disease, the development of new drugs targeting key molecules as well as the challenge to develop oral formulations will be presented and discussed. Given APL's high response rate to treatment, efforts to prevent early deaths are essential. Enhancement of the treatment strategy of high-risk patients is another area which is undergoing study as well as resistance to treatment.

Biography :

Mario Frank Farrugia is currently a Medical student at University of Malta, Malta.

Email: mariofrankfar@gmail.com