Text Box: OUTCOME OF A UNIFORM TREATMENT PROTOCOL FOR CHILDHOOD ACUTE MYELOID LEUKAEMIA (AML) 1Ha SY, 2Li CK, 3Lee ACW, 4Yuen HL, 5Ling SC Hong Kong Paediatric Haematology & Oncology Study Group 1 Queen Mary Hospital, 2Prince of Wales Hospital, 3Tuen Mun Hospital, 4Queen Elizabeth Hospital, 5Princess Margaret Hospital, HKSAR, China Objective: We analysed treatment outcome of childhood AML using a uniform protocol in 5 Hong Kong hospitals from Jun-94 to Dec-99. Methods: The disease was classified according to standard FAB criteria and cytogenetics. Treatment protocol was based on UKMRC AML regimen, which consisted of 4 or 5 courses of combination chemotherapy. Bone marrow transplant was considered in patients with high-risk AML (i.e. without good cytogenetic markers) or at relapse. Results: 58 cases of AML were diagnosed within the study period. Age ranged from 5.5 months to 15.8 years (median: 9.9 yr). There were 25 boys and 33 girls. Eight patients had Down’s syndrome. M2 and M3 accounted for 50% of AML cases. M6 (1 case) and M7 (9 cases) were predominately found in the patients with Down’s syndrome. Four patients (6.9%) died before commencement of chemotherapy. Fifty-two of the 54 patients (96.3%) achieved complete remission after chemotherapy. Five patients (9.3%) died during treatment. Thirteen (22.4%) had marrow relapse. Fourteen patients with high risk AML in first CR and another 11 relapsed patients underwent bone marrow transplant. Except for 3 patients who had autologous transplant, all the others had allogeneic transplant (9 matched sib donors, 5 mismatched related donor and 8 matched unrelated donors). Seven patients died after transplant either of treatment-related toxicities or relapse of leukaemia. Up till now, 18 out of 58 patients (31%) have died while 40 (69%) are surviving. The overall survival and event-free survival at 5 years are 68.3% and 56.3% respectively with median follow-up of 44 months. Conclusion: The current protocol appeared to be effective in the short and intermediate term with comparable survivals to other study groups. 2390