Leukemia, also known as blood cancer, is a malignant tumor of the hematopoietic system. The main treatments include the following:
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the standard of care for many types of leukemia. Even if patients do not achieve a cure, chemotherapy still helps patients survive longer and feel better.
Leukemia chemotherapy is often given in combination regimens because different drugs can attack leukemia cells from different pathways. Combinations also help to avoid leukemia cells becoming resistant to any of the individual drugs.
In addition to chemotherapy drugs, other drugs can be used to assist the chemotherapy drugs to work better and to prevent infection or bleeding. Such drugs include erythropoietin and hematopoietic stimulating factors.
Some types of acute leukemia can spread to the brain and spinal cord. Conventional chemotherapy cannot reach those areas because of the body’s special barrier protection mechanisms. An alternative method of chemotherapy delivery is needed, intrathecal chemotherapy, which injects drugs directly into the spinal canal to attack the leukemic cells located there, or drugs that can enter the central nervous system.
Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy can be used to kill cancer cells and shrink tumor tissue. It can target a specific area for radiation therapy or perform whole-body radiation therapy. In some cases, radiation therapy can be used to treat leukemia that has spread to the brain and central nervous system, or to prevent such spread from occurring. It can also be used to shrink swollen lymph nodes or to pre-treat bone marrow before the body receives a bone marrow transplant.
Stem cell transplantation
The stem cell transplant process involves killing all cells in the bone marrow, including leukemic cells, and replacing them with normal new cells. Most leukemias take allogeneic transplants, which means that the stem cells in the treatment come from donations from others. Sometimes an autologous transplant is also taken, which means that the patient’s own stem cells are used for the transplant.
Adjunctive treatment options
Sometimes, patients need to use adjuvant options in addition to medication to relieve the symptoms of leukemia and the side effects of treatment.
The following are some adjuvant treatment options that may be effective:
- Meditation or yoga to relieve stress;
- Massage or biofeedback to reduce pain and tension;
- Breathing exercises to help relax the mind and body.
The above types of mind-body therapies can lead to an improved state of being and a more relaxed approach to cancer treatment. They also help reduce chronic back pain, joint pain, headaches, and pain from cancer treatment.
But before a patient tries any of these complementary therapies, he or she should consult with a doctor.