Successful treatment with interferon of chicken pox in children with acute leukemia.

Childhood leukemia, especially acute lymphocytic leukemia, can now be completely cured by a multimodality approach in one out of every two patients. Since prolonged maintenance therapy with anti-cancer agents for three years is required for complete cure, a significant problem during this course of treatment is death due to secondary infection. Those with childhood leukemia receiving anti-cancer chemotherapy who became secondarily injected with chicken pox can now be treated successfully with interferon in the four cases reported here. Chicken pox was cured even while one of them was in relapse. Therefore, it can be said that a bright prospect, namely interferon, is on the horizon in the treatment of secondary viral diseases associated with acute leukemia.