Ninety-one patients with acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) aged 17-59 years were treated with a chemotherapy programme which could be completed within 30 weeks for patients who achieved complete remission (CR). Four courses included daunorubicin, cytarabine and thioguanine, while two courses included amsacrine, etoposide and cytarabine. Sixty-five patients obtained CR (71%), more often in patients below (82%) than above (60%) 40 years of age (P = 0.03). Five patients underwent allogenic bone-marrow transplantation, and one patient received an autologous bone-marrow transplant after relapse. Five patients developed central nervous system leukaemia. The overall actuarial 3- and 5-year survival was 29% and 21%, respectively; for patients who obtained CR the corresponding survival rates were 40% and 30%, respectively. Patients below 40 years of age appeared to fare better (5-year survival 26%) than older patients (5-year survival 16%). The estimated disease-free survival rate was 26% at 3 years and 22% at 5 years. The main advantage of this regimen is that results compare favourably with those obtained with other regimens were achieved, without exposing patients to long periods of maintenance therapy.