Leukemia

Treatment Options

Treatments for leukemia depend on the type of leukemia you have, your age and overall health, and if the leukemia has spread to other organs or tissues.

Common treatments often include a combination of the following:

• Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy is the most common form of leukemia treatment. It involves using chemicals to kill leukemia cells or keep them from multiplying.

• Immunotherapy (biologic therapy): This treatment uses certain drugs to boost your body’s defense system — your immune system — to fight leukemia.

• Targeted therapy: This treatment uses drugs designed to attack specific parts of a leukemia cell (like a protein or gene) that are causing them to overtake normal blood cells.

• Radiation therapy: This treatment uses strong energy beams or X-rays to kill leukemia cells or stop them from growing.

• Hematopoietic cell transplant (stem cell or bone marrow transplant): This treatment replaces the cancerous blood-forming cells killed by chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy with new, healthy hematopoietic cells.

• Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy: This is a novel type of therapy that takes your body’s infection-fighting T-cells (T-cell or T-lymphocyte is a type of immune cell), engineers them to fight leukemia cells and infuse them back into your body.

• Clinical Trials: Clinical trials for new treatments in leukemia are ongoing research studies that evaluate the safety and efficacy of innovative therapies. These trials may involve novel drugs, immunotherapies, targeted therapies, or stem cell transplant approaches. Participation in clinical trials offers patients access to cutting-edge treatments and contributes to advancing medical knowledge in the fight against leukemia.

• Supportive care: Supportive care in leukemia focuses on managing symptoms, preventing complications, and improving quality of life. It includes measures such as blood transfusions to address anemia, antibiotics to prevent infections, medications to manage pain and nausea, and counseling or psychological support for patients and their families.

Risk Factors

Factors that may increase your risk of developing some types of leukemia include:

• Previous cancer treatment: People who've had certain types of chemotherapy and radiation therapy for other cancers have an increased risk of developing certain types of leukemia.

• Genetic disorders: Genetic abnormalities seem to play a role in the development of leukemia. Certain genetic disorders, such as Down syndrome, are associated with an increased risk of leukemia.

• Exposure to certain chemicals: Exposure to certain chemicals, such as benzene — which is found in gasoline and is used by the chemical industry — is linked to an increased risk of some kinds of leukemia.

• Smoking: Smoking cigarettes increases the risk of acute myelogenous leukemia.

• Family history of leukemia: If members of your family have been diagnosed with leukemia, your risk of the disease may be increased.

Recovery

Recovery for leukemia treatments can last for months.

• Follow-Up Care
• Rehabilitation
• Psychological and Social Support