Failure of lithium to reduce period of neutropenia during induction therapy of acute myeloid leukemia.

Fifty-four patients treated with daunorubicin, cytosine arabinoside and thioquanine for acute myeloid leukemia were randomly assigned to receive oral lithium carbonate 1200 mg daily or no lithium. The duration of neutropenia (less than 0.5 x 10(9)/L) was similar between controls (median 22.5 days) and patients treated with lithium (median 24 days). The number of remissions, relapse-free survival and survival were similar for the lithium treated and control groups of patients. There was no apparent clinical efficacy in the use of lithium to reduce the period of neutropenia in patients undergoing remission induction therapy for acute myeloid leukemia.