Children with acute lymphocytic leukemia, who were in remission after induction with prednisone and vincristine and consolidation with intravenous methotrexate, were randomized into three groups receiving (1) no further therapy, (2) BCG, and (3) chemotherapy with biweekly methotrexate and monthly prednisone and vincristine. Children continuing in remission after 8 mo on chemotherapy in group 3 ...

The definition of remission in patients with systemic vasculitis must be distinguished from the term "cure," which implies that patients are well and not requiring ongoing therapy. Remission should be defined using a standardised approach to measuring clinical disease activity, and the definition should be qualified by the duration of the remission and the type of maintenance therapy required t...

BACKGROUND 5-Aminosalicylic acids (5-ASA) are effective for ulcerative colitis (UC) as a maintenance therapy. It is not clear when and how to reduce a dose of 5-ASA after inducing remission. We aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and evaluate the risk factors of relapse for UC patients receiving 5-ASA. METHODS The medical records of prospectively registered UC patients who recei...

Paediatric Crohn’s disease (CD) affects 5 in 100,000 children in the US and Europe and can result in growth retardation and delayed sexual development. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment is critical, with the goal being maintenance of symptomatic remission and a change in disease course. Conventional treatment relies on aminosalicylate maintenance therapy with corticosteroids to control a...

BACKGROUND The efficacy and safety of combination therapy with adalimumab (ADA) plus intensive granulocyte and monocyte adsorptive apheresis (GMA) (two sessions per week) for the treatment of refractory ulcerative colitis (UC) have not been previously evaluated. METHODS This retrospective study evaluated the 10-week efficacy of combination therapy with ADA plus intensive GMA on refractory UC ...

ANCA-associated vasculitides are a well-known clinico-pathological group of systemic diseases comprising microscopic poliangiitis, granulomatosis with poliangiitis and eosinophilic granulomatosis with poliangiitis. This article shows contemporary treatment of this diseases with extensive literature review. Stepwise treatment of ANCA-associated vasculitides is divided into induction therapy and ...

Current treatment of lupus nephritis consists of both induction and maintenance therapy, with the latter being designed to consolidate remissions and prevent relapses. Long-term maintenance treatment with intravenous cyclophosphamide was effective but associated with considerable toxicity. A small but well-designed controlled trial found that for post-induction maintenance therapy, both oral my...

BACKGROUND Rituximab is effective as therapy for induction of remission in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). However, the effect of rituximab is not sustained, and subsequent relapse rates are high, especially in patients with a history of relapse. There is a need to identify whether maintenance therapy with rituximab is superior to the current standard of...

BACKGROUND & AIMS. Secondary loss of response is a frequent event occurring during biological therapy. The aim of this study was to assess loss of efficacy in patients with Crohn's disease treated with infliximab or adalimumab for a year. The secondary goals were to identify clinical or laboratory predictors of loss of response. METHODS. Sixty-one Crohn's disease patients achieved remission aft...

maintenance treatment for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (aml) in remission has recently been controversially discussed and even abandoned by several groups. an analysis of 16 published multicenter trials, however, revealed the highest probabilities of relapse free survival (rfs) in the range of 35-42 % at 4-5 years only in patients assigned to maintenance treatment when adult age and int...