Treatment of Non-high-risk Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) With Realgar-Indigo Naturalis Formula (RIF)

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a unique subtype of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) which accounts for 10-15% of acute myeloid leukemia. It is characterized by the PML-RARA fusion gene generated by the t(15;17)(q22;q21) chromosomal translocation. The application of ATRA and ATO, make APL from highly fatal to highly curable. APL0406 study proves that ATRA plus arsenic trioxide is at least not inferior and may be superior to ATRA plus chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with non-high-risk APL. Now, the arsenic trioxide has already became the based regimen as targeted first-line treatment without chemotherapy. A study shows that oral RIF plus ATRA is not inferior to intravenous ATO plus ATRA as maintenance treatment of APL. The investigators design a multicenter randomized controlled trial to prove that RIF plus ATRA is possibly superior to ATO plus ATRA as consolidation and maintenance treatment for the patients with non-high-risk APL. Application of oral RIF decrease the total hospitalization days.