The Progress and the Present of Patients with Refractory Acute Leukemia

In spite of continuous progress in the therapy of acute leukemia,relapses still occur frequently both in children and adults.A high incidence of relapses following induction chemotherapy is a major hindrance to patients' survival in acute leukemia.Refractory acute leukemia is almost invariably fatal and the treatment of patients with refractory or recurrent acute leukemia remains challenging.In this article,the progress in diagnostic criteria,immunology,cytogenetics,molecular biology,mul- tidrug resistance and therapy of refractory acute leukemia was summarized.Traditional Chinese medicine (TGM) plays an impor- tant role in the treatment of refractory acute leukemia,which,in combination with chemotherapy,can improve the remission rate for patients.The probability of relapse was reduced when patients had been assigned to be treated with TCM along with chemotherapy.The patients might particularly benefit from the procedure.Tberefore,it is believed that in clinical application and commercial development,TCM has a potential future,which is worth further studying.