Atovaquone (Mepron®) Combined With Conventional Chemotherapy for de Novo Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

Standard cytotoxic chemotherapy is based on the Medical Research Council (MRC) backbone of cytarabine, and daunorubicin. This combination of chemotherapy is highly myelosuppressive and can lead to oral aversions, dietary intolerance, and gastrointestinal infections necessitating holding of oral drugs. Because of the toxicity of the best currently available therapy, new drugs that are considered for incorporation into existing treatment regimens will ideally have a tolerable side effect profile. This study will evaluate the tolerability of incorporating the orally bioavailable drug atovaquone in combination with standard cytotoxic induction chemotherapy for newly diagnosed pediatric AML patients. Therefore, quantifying the frequency with which atovaquone is held due to a side effect of therapy is crucial information to gather in this population.