Major treatments for leukemia The major treatments for leukemia are chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation.
Chemotherapy: can result in long-term survival rates of more than 3 years for some patients with acute leukemia, and some leukemia can be cured with chemotherapy. However, transplantation may currently be the only means of cure for most leukemias.
Stem cell transplantation (commonly known as bone marrow transplantation): There are autologous stem cell transplantation and allogeneic stem cell transplantation, of which allogeneic stem cell transplantation is the only way to cure leukemia.
How to administer chemotherapy for acute leukemia Indeed, many people think that chemotherapy is a very scary thing, but in fact, it is administered by intravenous drip or intravenous injection, just like conventional medication. Unlike other tumors, chemotherapy for acute leukemia is very risky because chemotherapy drugs kill leukemia cells as well as normal blood cells, so the period during and 3 weeks after chemotherapy is a dangerous period where patients may have combined infections, bleeding, anemia and even organ failure. For example, to reduce the risk of infection, there are sterile wards, broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents, etc. For anemia and bleeding, component blood transfusions can be given, etc. Therefore, the mortality rate associated with chemotherapy is currently reduced to less than 5%, and once the patient has passed the risk period, some patients can achieve remission and will be in a normal state, so that life can be extended.
How long does chemotherapy for acute leukemia take? This is also a concern for patients and their families. If chemotherapy is the only option without transplantation, it usually takes 1-3 years (depending mainly on the type of leukemia, risk level, treatment, chromosomal and genetic alterations of the patient).
After diagnosis, 2 courses of induction remission chemotherapy are first given to aim for hematologic remission, followed by 2-4 courses of consolidation intensive therapy to aim for molecular genetic remission. The above is basically a 2-3 week interval, after which some patients need maintenance chemotherapy, usually 1 month interval in the first year, 2 months interval in the second year, and 3 months interval in the third year. In the 4th year, chemotherapy is stopped, and regular review is the main focus afterwards.