Leukimia treatment

Leukemia treatment varies depending on the type and level of disease and adapted to each patient. In General, chemotherapy - drugs that kill cells rapidly demarcation are the main treatment for acute or chronic leukemia. Acute leukemia, intensive chemotherapy and use of certain medications simultaneously or successively, kill leukemia cells as possible. Antibiotics and transfusions of red blood cells and platelets help blood to maintain a small number of patients who are dangerous because they received intensive chemotherapy.

Sometimes radiation is used to reduce the collection in the lymph nodes or accumulate in various parts of the body, such as the lining of the brain and spinal cord in leukemia acute lymphoblastic Leukemic cells in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. If not treated, a collection of cells on the surface of the brain and the spinal cord can cause headache, blurred vision, confusion and elsewhere in the body can cause swelling and pain in the affected area.

Especially in younger patients, if doctors determine only chemotherapy is not likely to succeed, or patients who have relapsed after chemotherapy, stem cell transplantation (genetically different) allogeneic transplantation can be done. In this procedure, the intense total body irradiation or high-dose chemotherapy or both have been used. Treatment of chemotherapy and radiation therapy to destroy all leukemia cells in the body of the patient, but this treatment has also destroyed the hematopoietic system in the bone marrow of the patient. For this reason, healthy stem cells from bone marrow cells that allow the formation of blood in the long term, then inserted into patients to replace the blood-forming system. Stem cells must come from donor suitable immunologically, usually siblings, but if your game is not available, sometimes non-related donor may be requested. The latter can be identified from the database of volunteer donors. This database can be searched with the corresponding tissue types are identical or very similar. Previously, the stem cells can only be transplanted donor bone marrow. This procedure is known as bone marrow transplantation. Recent developments now allow to recover and placental blood stem cells and blood from the umbilical cord ("cord blood") after giving birth to newborns, making transplant procedure is much easier and less risky for the donor. Stem cells from umbilical cord frozen, stored in a bank blood "," and can be used later for patients in need. The number of stem cells in this example cannot be sufficient for adults bigger and more commonly used for children and small adults who need transplants and need for funders, unrelated to the game.

Unexpected effect of allogeneic stem cell transplantation is called graft effect against leukemia. Immune cells recognize the tissue types small donor Antigen (proteins that produce antibodies) that is incompatible with the recipient. Immune cells from the donor, the attacked network of the recipient, including leukemia and tissue cells normal. Attack on beneficiaries of normal tissues as a disease known as graft-versus-host. This attack can be acute or chronic and very mild or very severe. This is a serious complication is not desirable to allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Graft-versus - Leukemic cells, on the other hand, the desired effect and is partly responsible for certain beneficial effects of transplantation, especially in patients who have received transplants for treatment of acute myelocytic leukemia or chronic.

Transplantation is the most effective among children and young adults. older adults are often too dangerous a procedure to be applied. An approach called non-myeloablative stem cell transplantation are tested in elderly patients. Here is a very soft pretreatment with chemotherapy or radiotherapy is used, then only anti-immune therapy based on the immune system to prevent rejection of stem cell donor recipients. Graft stock against leukemia is supported on a substitute for the intensive therapy before transplantation standards of leukemia.

Immunotherapy is a new and promising approach for the treatment of leukemia. With this technique, very specific molecules called monoclonal antibodies are made in laboratory molecule target surface of Leukemic cells. Antibody itself can kill leukaemic cells or radioactive substances or toxic cells attached to the antibody can kill cells, when injected intravenously patient. This method provides an easy way to provide a radioactive substance or toxic immediate in the leukemia cells that can kill the cells with a minimal impact on healthy cells.

Objective in the treatment of acute leukemia is to kill leukaemic cells is sufficient to produce remission, which means that the production of red blood cells is removed, blood cell counts return to normal and patients symptoms decreased. At this stage, further therapy is used to attempt to extend the delivery scope or cure. About 80 per cent of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia can be healed. Cure rates of acute myelocytic leukemia is estimated to be approximately 40% of children, but much smaller adults according to their age. Because most patients over 65 years of age, when they develop the disease, treatment is rare.

Chronic leukemia, the cure is rare, but the current chemotherapy regimens have improved survival in patients with an average of about three years to more than six years. chronic lymphocytic leukemia more lazy form may not require treatment and cannot progress or a serious consequences for the health of patients. In patients with active or progressive disease, new drugs and types of available MAB to treat the disease. In leukemia chronic myelocytic spectacular advances in therapy consists of the introduction of medications that specifically target leukemia causes changes in the cells of the bone marrow. The introduction of this treatment was projected to increase survival averaged more than 10 years. Young patients with diseases that have a suitable donor stem cells can be cured by stem cell transplantation.