[Complete clinical remission over 50 months of a patient with acute monocytic leukaemia (author's transl)]. / Remisión clínica completa de 50 meses de evolución en un paciente afecto de leucemia aguda monocítica.

A case of Schilling type pure acute monocytic leukaemia (M5 variety of the FAB classification) in a 38-year-old man is presented. The initial predominant clinical manifestation was an increase hypertrophic gingivitis. The cytological type was established according to the morphologic and cytochemical criteria currently in use. The patient was treated with daunomycin (60 mg/m2 one day) and ARA-C (100 mg/m2/12 hours for 7 days) in a 2-week interval cycles. Total remission was achieved after the fifth series. The series have been repeated over 4 years with intervals of up to 6 or 8 weeks. Complete haematologic remission has been constant, with normalization of the serum muramidase levels. A gingival biopsy taken at the same time has shown no evidence of leukaemic infiltration. The high incidence of malignancy in this cytological variety of acute leukaemia is pointed out; it is normally less sensitive to chemotherapy than the myeloid types. Remission has been total over a long period of time, which is exceptional in this type of leukaemia. The mean survival rate as recorded in the literature is only a little over 3 months.