Treatment for acute myeloid leukemia can be done with chemotherapy that uses anticancer drugs to destroy tumor cells, such as cytarabine, Idarubicin and Daunorubicin, for example, and the average treatment time varies from 1 to 3 years.
However, when the patient does not respond to chemotherapeutic treatment, the only alternative is bone marrow transplantation, which must be compatible with the donor to cure the disease.
In addition, acute myelogenous leukemia responds worse to treatment than other types of leukemia and therefore, in some cases, cure is difficult, but it is possible. Learn more about the disease in: Acute myeloid leukemia.
1. Chemotherapy for treating myeloid leukemia
The treatment that is done with medicines is done in the hospital and is indicated by the oncologist including the use of medicines like Cytarabine and Idarubicina, for example. In most cases, the use of cytarabine for 7 consecutive days and Idarubucine 3 times every 2 days is indicated. Read more about the medicine in: Citarabina.
In addition, chemotherapy is administered to the hospital in stages, with days of intense treatment and some days of rest that allow the patient to recover. Thus, initially it is necessary to eliminate the malignant cells from the blood and reduce their number in the marrow.
Some of the most common medications to treat this type of leukemia, may be:
ladribine | Etoposide | Fludarabine |
| Cytarabine | Azacitidine | Mitoxantrone |
| Daunomycin | Thioguanine | Idarubicin |
| Darubicin | Hydroxyurea | Topotecan |
| Vincristine | Decitabine | Hydroxyurea |
In addition, your doctor may recommend the use of corticosteroids, such as prednisone or dexamethasone.
Treatment Complications
The treatment for leukemia reduces the amount of white blood cells in the blood and therefore the patient has a tendency to worsen at the beginning of treatment before presenting improvements such as recurrent infections. In this way, it is necessary to stay hospitalized during the treatment and, in the case of infections, antibiotics should be used as soon as possible to avoid worsening of the clinical condition.
In addition, other symptoms such as hair loss, swelling of the body and spots of the skin are common. Get to know more symptoms and how to get along with them at: See what they are and how to deal with the side effects of chemotherapy.
2. Bone marrow transplantation to treat myeloid leukemia
Bone marrow transplantation is done by surgery to remove bone marrow from the hip bones of a compatible donor, and it can only be injected into the cancer patient when he or she terminates chemotherapy and radiation therapy to destroy malignant cells. See more as this treatment is done in: Bone Marrow Transplant.
During the first year after diagnosis of leukemia, it is necessary to have blood taken every 3 months and, after the second year twice during the year, to control the disease and see if the cancer is cured.
To know more about this type of leukemia read:
- Symptoms of Acute Myeloid Leukemia
- Acute Myeloid Leukemia
