Synergistic effects of glyburide and U-37883A, two structurally different vascular ATP-sensitive potassium channel antagonists

PURPOSE: To analyse the results of the therapy administered to children with ALL in Cuba. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Four-hundred and twenty-five children (aged below 15 years), diagnosed of ALL in 8 different Cuban hospitals between 1973 and 1991, were evaluated. Five different therapeutic regimes were used: three "classic" GLATHEM protocols in the first period (1973-1981) and two intensive BFM-like protocols in the second period (1982-1991). The Kaplan-Meier method was applied for survival analysis, and the differences were evaluated by the log-rank and Mantel-Cox methods. RESULTS: Two-hundred and sixty-five patients were included in the first period, 81 with low-risk disease, 133 with standard risk and 51 with poor-risk leukaemia. The second period comprised 160 cases, 50 of low-risk, 83 with standard risk and 27 with poor-risk leukaemia. The disease-free survival probability at 60 months was 35% for the first group and 55% for the second (p < 0.0001). The 60-month survival (SV) as a whole was 45% for the "classic" treatments and 60% for the BFM-like protocols (p < 0.01). The disease-free survival (DFS) probability for each prognostic group was as follows: 50% for low-risk, 43% for standard risk, and 25% for poor-risk (p < 0.001) and the probability of survival as a whole was, respectively, 65%, 49% and 28% (p < 0.001). as for this compilation, 172 patients were out of any treatment for periods ranging between 14 and 168 months. CONCLUSIONS: 1) The percentage of remissions was similar for both groups of treatments. 2) The results attained with BFM-like protocols were better than those of the "classic" therapy with regard to the SV and DFS differences. 3) Significant differences can be appreciated between good- and poor-prognosis groups for both types of treatment.