Leukemia is a type of cancer that begins in the blood-forming cells of the bone marrow. From there, the disease quickly moves into the blood where it can spread to other parts of the body.
Leukemia patients have a number of key treatments available to counter the disease.
Essentially, leukemia begins in the bone marrow where blood cells are made. Because of that, this cancer can spread quickly throughout the body, eventually affecting other organs like lymph nodes, the spinal cord, the brain or spleen. When leukemia is diagnosed as acute, that means the disease is spreading rapidly.
To learn more about the different types of treatments used to treat acute leukemia, read on.
Radiation
Radiation therapy is used for two purposes. The first is to actively treat and kill leukemia cancer cells in the spinal fluid and the brain. The second way in which radiation therapy is used is as a prevention method - essentially to prevent the cancer from returning to different parts of the body after chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the primary treatment used to address leukemia. There are three major stages of chemotherapy for leukemia patients and these are induction, consolidation and maintenance. Essentially, induction is the phase intended to kill the majority of cancer cells. Consolidation is designed to kill any remaining cells, and maintenance is a low dose phase designed to prevent recurrence of the leukemia.
Remission Induction Therapy
In acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), remission induction usually involves treatment with two chemotherapy drugs - cytrabine and an anthracycline drug like daunorubicin. This intensive form of therapy typically takes place in the hospital.
Typically, a course of remission induction will only last between 5 and 7 days. However, because most of the body's healthy bone marrow cells have been destroyed over the course of the treatment, the patient must endure a lengthy hospital stay following treatment.
Patients diagnosed with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) will typically undergo remission induction treatments which involve anthracycline, prednisone and vincristine. Generally, bone marrow damage is less significant, and ALL patients can expect shorter hospital stays.
Consolidation Chemotherapy
Consolidation therapy is administered after remission induction as a way to destroy any remaining leukemia cells and prevent a future relapse.
Maintenance Therapy
Patients with ALL might have to undergo ongoing maintenance therapy. Essentially, it is a course of oral medications that can typically be done on an out-patient basis.
Central Nervous System Prophylaxis
Some ALL patients may receive methotrexate, a drug used to treat leukemia, through a spinal tap. This is done to prevent ALL from recurring in either the spinal fluid or the brain.
Stem Cell Transplantation
Stem cell transplantation is a serious procedure, but one that is often used in younger patients with a poor prognosis. Adult patients, under the age of 50, typically undergo stem cell transplantation treatments for leukemia if their leukemia relapses.
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