Chemotherapy is the major form of treatment for leukemia. This drug treatment uses chemicals to kill leukemia cells. Depending on the type of leukemia you have, you may receive a single drug or a combination of drugs. These drugs may come in a pill form, or they may be injected directly into a vein.
Stage 1 – A patient has high levels of white blood cells and enlarged lymph nodes. Stage 2 – A patient has high levels of white blood cells and is anemic. He or she may also have enlarged lymph nodes. Stage 3 – A patient has high levels of white blood cells and is anemic.
Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)
Due to its rapid progression, AML is typically treated with either chemotherapy or radiation therapy to quickly destroy cancer cells. But targeted therapies have recently emerged in AML treatment, especially for earlier stages of AML.
Introduction. Chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) has been the standard first-line treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
There are no alternative treatment options available that can treat, cure, or manage leukemia or any other type of cancer. However, there are some methods that may help ease certain symptoms of leukemia or help reduce the side effects of treatment.
Many people enjoy long and healthy lives after being successfully treated for their blood cancer. Sometimes, however, the treatment can affect a person's health for months or even years after it has finished. Some side effects may not be evident until years after treatment has ceased. These are called 'late effects'.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) can rarely be cured. Still, most people live with the disease for many years. Some people with CLL can live for years without treatment, but over time, most will need to be treated. Most people with CLL are treated on and off for years.
Patients will often need to stay in the hospital for 3 to 4 weeks during treatment. However, depending on the situation, many patients can leave the hospital. Those who do, usually need to visit the doctor regularly during treatment.
First phase — induction chemotherapy. Second phase — consolidation chemotherapy. Third phase — maintenance chemotherapy. Fourth phase — central nervous system (CNS) prophylaxis.
You start treatment quite quickly after getting diagnosed and you have several chemotherapy drugs over a few days. Chemotherapy damages healthy bone marrow cells as well as the leukaemia cells. So you will generally need to stay in hospital until you have recovered. This is usually about 4 to 6 weeks.
Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is the major form of treatment for leukemia. This drug treatment uses chemicals to kill leukemia cells. Depending on the type of leukemia you have, you may receive a single drug or a combination of drugs.
Around 20 out of 100 (around 20 percent) will survive their leukemia for five years or more after diagnosis. Your age affects how well leukemia responds to treatment. Younger people have a better prognosis.
The treatment usually consists of four cycles of intensive chemotherapy that includes high doses of cytarabine and one or more other drugs.
Chronic leukemia usually gets worse slowly, over months to years, while acute leukemia develops quickly and progresses over days to weeks. The two main types of leukemia can be further organized into groups that are based on the type of white blood cell that is affected — lymphoid or myeloid.
Doctors base leukemia staging on the amount of cancerous white blood cells in the body. Each of the four types of leukemia has its own staging system. A complete blood count and tissue biopsy can help doctors determine the type and stage of leukemia. An organ biopsy may help doctors determine if the cancer has spread.
Acute leukemia symptoms can often appear suddenly
With acute leukemia, symptoms tend to develop very quickly. You may suddenly spike a fever that won't go away, develop an infection for no apparent reason, or start bleeding spontaneously from your nose or gums and not be able to stop it.
Chemo is the main treatment for just about all people with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). Because of its potential side effects, chemo might not be recommended for patients in poor health, but advanced age by itself is not a barrier to getting chemo.
Chemo drugs used to treat CML
The chemo drug hydroxyurea (Hydrea®) is taken as a pill, and can help quickly lower very high white blood cell counts and shrink an enlarged spleen. Other drugs sometimes used include cytarabine (Ara-C), busulfan, cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan®), and vincristine (Oncovin®).
Treatment often lasts two to three years, although the first months are the most intense. During maintenance phases, children can usually live a relatively normal life and go back to school. And adults may be able to continue working.
What is Leukemia (Blood Cancer)? Leukemia starts in the soft, inner part of the bones (bone marrow), but often moves quickly into the blood. It can then spread to other parts of the body, such as the lymph nodes, spleen, liver, central nervous system and other organs.
After a leukemia diagnosis, your doctor and support team should prepare you for side effects from your treatment. Ask your doctor what to expect with the specific treatment you will be receiving. Possibilities include nausea, hair loss, skin rashes, digestive problems, and fatigue.
In general, leukemia is thought to occur when some blood cells acquire changes (mutations) in their genetic material or DNA. A cell's DNA contains the instructions that tell a cell what to do. Normally, the DNA tells the cell to grow at a set rate and to die at a set time.
The slow-growing form of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the least serious type of leukemia. It is a disease of older people; the average age at diagnosis is around 71. CLL is a malignancy of mature lymphocytes, which usually grow and divide slowly, resulting in a slowly progressive disease.
CLL has a very high incidence rate in people older than 60 years. CLL affects men more than women. If the disease has affected the B cells, the person's life expectancy can range from 10 to 20 years.
Stage 0. The number of red blood cells and platelets are almost normal. Your lymph nodes, spleen, and liver are fine. You're at low risk and probably don't need treatment now.