Intensive chemotherapy may be harmful to most older patients with acute myeloid leukemia

Thursday, July 29, 2010 - 09:07 in Health & Medicine

The prognosis for nearly three-quarters of elderly patients on intensive chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is poor, with a median survival of less than six months, according to a study published online today in Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology. AML is the most common form of acute leukemia among adults and is a rapidly growing cancer of the bone marrow that requires immediate treatment. The average age at diagnosis is 67, and more than 12,000 people will be diagnosed with AML this year (according to the National Cancer Institute).

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