DRAMATIC RESOLUTION OF PLEURAL EFFUSION IN CHILDREN WITH CHRONIC MYELOMONOCYTIC LEUKEMIA FOLLOWING SHORT-COURSE HIGH-DOSE METHYLPREDNISOLONE

High-dose methylprednisolone (HDMP) which can induce-differentiation a nd -apoptosis of myeloid leukemic cells has been shown to be very effe ctive in the treatment of extramedullary infiltration (EMI) of childre n with acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML). In the present study 2 child ren with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) who had pleural effusi ons were given a single daily dose of oral methylprednisolone (20 mg/k g or 30 mg/kg). In addition to dramatic improvement of respiratory sym ptoms, pleural effusions disappeared in four days in both patients pos sibly due to apoptotic cell death induced by HDMP treatment. Further s tudies are needed to determine whether high-dose corticosteroids are a lso effective on the resolution of pleural effusions associated with o ther malignant disease.