A Comparison of High‐Dose Cytarabine During Induction Versus Consolidation Therapy in Newly Diagnosed AML

The proportion of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cured is increased by administering high‐dose cytarabine (HiDAC). It remains uncertain whether to administer HiDAC as induction or consolidation, and whether ≥1 cycle of HiDAC is required. Our retrospective study of 416 adult AML patients, excluding good risk cytogenetics, compared a single cycle of HiDAC‐based therapy followed by 2 cycles of standard‐dose cytarabine (SDAC) (HiDAC induction cohort) with SDAC‐based chemotherapy followed by 2 cycles of HiDAC‐based chemotherapy (HiDAC consolidation cohort). Complete remission (CR) rate was greater in the HiDAC induction cohort (90% vs 78%, P