Aminopterin in the Treatment of Leukemia in Children

The document summarizes a study on the use of aminopterin for treating acute leukemia in 12 children, which showed that the drug was ineffective for myelocytic and myeloblastic leukemia but provided temporary improvement in 5 out of 9 cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The treatment involved administering aminopterin intramuscularly until bone marrow hypoplasia occurred, with doses ranging from 0.5 to 2 mg daily and total dosages between 6 to 54 mg. Although there were improvements such as reduced bone pain and temporary recovery of bone marrow cellularity, there was no significant increase in overall survival duration. The study suggests that further research with folic acid antagonists, especially amethopterin, is necessary to find more effective treatments.