Idarubicin: An Anthracycline For Acute Myelogenous Leukemia

Objective: To review the scientific literature evaluating the efficacy and tolerability of Idarubicin, an anthracycline indicated for treatment acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) including French-American-British (FAB) classifications M1 through M7 Data sources: Articles were identified through searches of MEDLINE (1966–April 2007) using the key words idarubicin (IDA), acute myelogenous leukemia, anthracyclines. Additional citations were identified from bibliographies of publications cited. Study selection and data extraction: Experimental and observational studies of IDA were selected. Trials of the efficacy of the drug in humans were the focus of the review. Data synthesis: IDA is an effective alternative for the treatment of different types of AML. It significantly increases complete response rate and survival time when used in combination with other antileukemic drug. In comparative studies, there was a trend toward the superiority of IDA over daunorubicin. However, these data are insufficient to recommend IDA as a replacement for daunorubicin, and further studies will be required to ascertain if statistically significant differences in efficacy exist between the two drugs. Conclusions: Current available clinical trials do not show advantage of one anthracycline over another. However, for APL the combination of all-trans retinoic acid and anthracycline induction therapy represents the mainstay of therapy.