Arsenic trioxide sold under the brand name Trisenox, is approved for patients with a rare leukemia named acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).
APL is a form of acute myeloid leukemia, about 1,500 people are diagnosed every year with this rare disease. Standard treatment involves chemotherapy and a form of vitamin A -- alltrans retinoic acid. This therapy helps about 70-80 percent of patient gain long term-remissions. About 25 percent of patients do relapse and are no longer responsive to treatment.These patients often are treated with arsenic trioxide.
A study was sponsored by The National Cancer Institute to see if the addition of arsenic trioxide along with the standard therapy for first line treatment would prove better survival rates.
