Arsenic trioxide and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) treatment for acute promyelocytic leukemia in all risk groups: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background The treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) has been revolutionized in the past two decades by the advent of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and arsenic trioxide (ATO). It suggests that non-high-risk APL patients can be cured without chemotherapy. However, ATRA plus chemotherapy is still the standard therapy for the high-risk patients. Central nervous system (CNS) relapse remains a significant cause of treatment failure in high-risk patients. However, increasing the ATO concentration in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may reduce CNS relapse in high-risk patients. Mannitol can allow ATO to penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and reach therapeutically effective levels in the CSF. It is used for the treatment of CNS relapse in patients APL. We compare ATRA-ATO with ATRA-ATO plus chemotherapy in both high-risk and non-high-risk patients with APL. Methods This study was designed as a multicenter randomized controlled trial. Patients with APL were randomly assigned into two groups: the ATRA-ATO group (experimental group) and the ATRA-ATO plus chemotherapy group (control group). The experimental group receives therapy with ATRA-ATO for induction, consolidation and maintenance therapy. In the high-risk patients, mannitol will be used with ATO in the consolidation and maintenance therapy. Hydroxyurea will be used in patients who developed leukocytosis in the induction therapy. The control group receives therapy with ATRA-ATO plus chemotherapy for induction and consolidation therapy. Discussion In this study, a randomized clinical trial design is described. It aims to compare the efficacy of ATRA-ATO versus ATRA-ATO plus chemotherapy in all-risk patients with APL. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trials Registry, ID: ChiCTR-IPR-15006821. Registered on 27 July 2015. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13063-018-2812-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.