Patients will often need to stay in the hospital for 3 to 4 weeks during treatment. However, depending on the situation, many patients can leave the hospital. Those who do, usually need to visit the doctor regularly during treatment.
Standard ALL treatment usually takes between 2 to 3 years altogether. The maintenance phase takes up most of this time as it lasts 2 years. During the maintenance phase people are often back to work or college. If you have a stem cell or bone marrow transplant the treatment time is shorter but more intensive.
Life expectancy will depend on a person's age, the type of leukemia, and other factors. For children with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), the 5-year survival rate is now around 90%, according to the American Cancer Society. For other types, however, the chance of living 5 years or more with leukemia may be lower .
The treatment usually consists of four cycles of intensive chemotherapy that includes high doses of cytarabine and one or more other drugs.
The first two phases use intensive chemotherapy medications designed to kill the leukemia cells that grow quickly. Complete therapy for ALL typically continues for two to three years.
Does chemotherapy hurt? IV chemotherapy should not cause any pain while being administered. If you experience pain, contact the nurse taking care of you to check your IV line.
Drugs that damage or destroy cancer cells also affect normal cells. Rapidly dividing cells, such as hair follicle cells, are the most affected. This is why hair loss (alopecia) is a common side effect of chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy is the main treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).
Generally for all people with ALL:
more than 65 out of 100 people (more than 65%) will survive their leukaemia for 5 years or more after being diagnosed.
Leukemia staging is generally determined by blood cell counts and the accumulation of leukemia cells within organs. When diagnosing leukemia, the test most commonly performed is a complete blood count (CBC), which measures: White blood cell count. Red blood cell count.
You'll likely get a medicine called cytarabine. It's given as a continuous infusion for 7 days. Another chemo medicine, usually daunorubicin or idarubicin, will be given for 3 days. This 7-day plus 3-day protocol puts the leukemia cells in contact with medicines at different phases of their growth.
Treatment for patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) differs from treatment for patients with other AML subtypes. Because of advances in diagnosis and treatment of this disease, APL is now considered the most curable form of adult leukemia.
If caught early, leukemia can be cured by undergoing several cancer treatments.
“Sometimes, patients need multiple transfusions per week,” Dr. De Angulo said. Other times, transfusions may be needed only once a month or less. This depends on several factors, including your type of leukemia, how severe the symptoms are, and what treatments you're receiving.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most fatal type of leukemia. The five-year survival rate (how many people will be alive five years after diagnosis) for AML is 29.5%. Leukemia is a cancer that usually affects white blood cells, though it can start in other types of blood cells.
Acute myelogenous leukemia is the most common kind of aggressive leukemia in adults. It can also affect children. This type of leukemia starts in the myeloid cells of the bone marrow and can spread quickly into the blood.
Some people report that their scalps feel itchy, sensitive and irritated during their treatments and while their hair is falling out. Shaving your head can reduce the irritation and save the embarrassment of shedding. Protect your scalp.
Whether it's due to pain from a growing tumor, swallowing difficulties caused by radiation therapy, or the nausea, loss of appetite or mouth sores that are sometimes caused by chemotherapy, involuntary weight loss is a serious side effect of cancer and its treatment for many patients.
During a course of treatment, you usually have around 4 to 8 cycles of treatment. A cycle is the time between one round of treatment until the start of the next. After each round of treatment you have a break, to allow your body to recover.
Refractory ALL occurs when a complete remission is not achieved because the drugs did not destroy enough leukemia cells. These patients often continue to have low blood counts, need transfusions, and have a risk of bleeding or infection.
Other recent statistics on cancer survivorship : About 67% of cancer survivors have survived 5 or more years after diagnosis. About 18% of cancer survivors have survived 20 or more years after diagnosis. 64% of survivors are age 65 or older.