As with other types of cancer, there's currently no cure for leukemia. People with leukemia sometimes experience remission, a state after diagnosis and treatment in which the cancer is no longer detected in the body. However, the cancer may recur due to cells that remain in your body.
However, leukemia rarely goes away without treatment. Fortunately, there are many treatment options available that can help prevent the growth and spread of cancer cells, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, and stem cell transplant.
People may receive maintenance therapy to help keep the cancer in remission, but chronic leukemia can seldom be cured with chemotherapy. However, stem cell transplants offer some people with chronic leukemia the chance for cure.
If caught early, leukemia can be cured by undergoing several cancer treatments.
Chronic leukemia involves more-mature blood cells. These blood cells replicate or accumulate more slowly and can function normally for a period of time. Some forms of chronic leukemia initially produce no early symptoms and can go unnoticed or undiagnosed for years.
Without treatment, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is almost always fatal. Spontaneous remission of AML is a rare phenomenon and usually with a short duration.
Many people enjoy long and healthy lives after being successfully treated for their blood cancer. Sometimes, however, the treatment can affect a person's health for months or even years after it has finished. Some side effects may not be evident until years after treatment has ceased. These are called 'late effects'.
Infections and anemia are the major causes of death in leukemic patients. Untreated, acute leukemia has an aggressive course, with death occurring within 6 months or less.
The total treatment usually takes about 2 years, with the maintenance phase taking up most of this time. Treatment may be more or less intense, depending on the subtype of ALL and other prognostic factors. ALL can spread to the area around the brain and spinal cord.
CLL has a very high incidence rate in people older than 60 years. CLL affects men more than women. If the disease has affected the B cells, the person's life expectancy can range from 10 to 20 years.
The 5-year survival rate for people age 20 and older is 40%. The 5-year survival rate for people under age 20 is 89%. Recent advances in treatment have significantly lengthened the lives of people with ALL. However, survival rates depend on several factors, including biologic features of the disease and a person's age.
Leukemia starts when the DNA of a single cell in your bone marrow changes (mutates). DNA is the “instruction code” that tells a cell when to grow, how to develop and when to die. Because of the mutation, or coding error, leukemia cells keep multiplying.
Stage 1 – A patient has high levels of white blood cells and enlarged lymph nodes. Stage 2 – A patient has high levels of white blood cells and is anemic. He or she may also have enlarged lymph nodes. Stage 3 – A patient has high levels of white blood cells and is anemic.
Chemotherapy is the major form of treatment for leukemia. This drug treatment uses chemicals to kill leukemia cells. Depending on the type of leukemia you have, you may receive a single drug or a combination of drugs. These drugs may come in a pill form, or they may be injected directly into a vein.
Chronic leukemia usually gets worse slowly, over months to years, while acute leukemia develops quickly and progresses over days to weeks. The two main types of leukemia can be further organized into groups that are based on the type of white blood cell that is affected — lymphoid or myeloid.
However, there are many varieties of leukemia, not all of which are threatening. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is, in general, one of those nonthreatening leukemias.
The leukaemia cells can build up in the lymph nodes, liver and spleen and sometimes make them bigger. If it wasn't treated acute leukaemia would cause death within a few weeks or months.
People with chronic leukemia can live many years with this disease and successfully manage their symptoms. Talk with your doctor about your treatment goals to find what options are best for you.
Because of advances in diagnosis and treatment of this disease, APL is now considered the most curable form of adult leukemia. Cure rates of 90 percent have been reported from centers specializing in APL treatment.
You and your care team will develop a detailed plan for treating your leukemia. It may include chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, or other types of treatments. Everyone's treatment plan is different. Discuss the pros and cons of each treatment with your doctor.
A remission may be temporary or permanent. This uncertainty causes many people to worry that the leukemia will come back. While many remissions are permanent, it is important to talk with your child's doctor about the possibility of the disease returning.
Age-specific incidence rates fall gradually from age 0-4 and remain stable throughout childhood and early adulthood, rates rise sharply from around age 55-59. The highest rates are in in the 85 to 89 age group for females and males. Incidence rates are significantly lower in females than males in most age groups.
Acute leukemia symptoms can often appear suddenly
With acute leukemia, symptoms tend to develop very quickly. You may suddenly spike a fever that won't go away, develop an infection for no apparent reason, or start bleeding spontaneously from your nose or gums and not be able to stop it.