By: Trevor Price There are several common treatments for leukemia patients. 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 Therapy 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 Patients who are diagnosed with AML (acute myelogenous leukemia) will typically undergo remission induction treatments which involve cytrabine and an anthracycline. Because remission induction is so intensive, it's often undergone on an in-patient basis. The treatment usually lasts just one week, but additional hospital time is often needed for support as most of the normal, healthy bone marrow cells are destroyed or weakened along with the leukemia cells. For acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the treatment involves a combination of anthracycline and vincristine and prednisone. This combination reduces the amount of bone marrow damage, and patients can generally expect shorter hospital stays. Consolidation Therapy 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 Because ALL can come back in the spinal fluid or brain, some patients are treated with methotrexate, which is administered through a spinal tap or, in some cases, radiation therapy to 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.
