ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the effect of the treatment for long-term disease-free survival (DFS) of post-remission patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty-nine AML patients with completely remission (CR) and 17 with partial remission (PR) were treated with Chinese medicine, Longchan Cigu Decoction 1 dose per day and Lingxiong Piaoling Powder 7 doses per month, and combined with DA or HA regimen of chemotherapy one course per year. Patients peripheral blood picture, bone marrow smear, biopsy and human leukocyte antigen DR (HLA-DR) cells were examined before and after treatment, and their disease-free survival (DFS) was followed up.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After treated with above mentioned treatment for 2 months, percentage of patients with normal peripheral blood count increased, including patients with WBC > or = 4.0 x 10(9)/L raised from 46% to 70%, with Hb > or = 120 g/L from 17% to 46% and with PLT > or = 100 x 10(9)/L from 63% to 85%; nucleated cell volume in bone marrow increased from 35.83 +/- 28.42% to 60.46 +/- 17.73% (P < 0.01); HLA-DR cell was also increased significantly from 10.55 +/- 4.95% to 14.84 +/- 4.94%, (P < 0.01); while the residual leukemia cells were not increased in one year, from 5.90 +/- 5.09% before and 5.82 +/- 2.42% after treatment (P > 0.05). The maximal DFS in patients was 123 months. The 3-year survival rate was 64.15 +/- 1.96% and 5-year survival rate was 51.19 +/- 16.25%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The integrative Chinese and western medicine treating program used in this study is beneficial for the long-term treatment of AML patients after complete remission.</p>