James M. Foran, MD

There have been significant advances in our understanding of the biology of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), and to a lesser extent, in its treatment. Dr. Estey has provided an excellent overview of the current state of the clinical management of the disease. He has described both the standard therapeutic approaches, including allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, as well as the role of investigational therapy. The present state of clinical research in AML is reviewed in some detail in the context of the broad clinical investigation of the disease at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Estey makes a strong argument for the early consideration of investigational therapy, focusing on patients for whom "standard" therapy is demonstrably inadequate.