Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) Treatment Options
The treatment for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) can be intense—especially in the beginning. It can last for about two years, depending on the type of treatment you and your doctor choose.
Treatment options for ALL can include:
- Chemotherapy: This is the main way to treat ALL, which uses medicines to kill cancer cells. The medicines may be injected into your cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to prevent cancer growth or to reach cancer cells around the brain and nervous system in what is known as intrathecal chemotherapy or central nervous system prophylaxis.
- Radiation Therapy: This type of therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells. It may be used to kill or prevent the spread of cancer in your nervous system. It may be used right before a stem cell transplant. In rare cases, it may be done to shrink a tumor.
- Stem Cell Transplant with High-Dose Chemotherapy: If the normal doses of chemotherapy don't work, your doctor may need to give you very high doses of chemotherapy. These high doses can damage the stem cells in your bone marrow. Blood stem cells are the "starter" cells for new blood cells. In some cases before chemotherapy, the doctor removes some stem cells from a volunteer donor and freezes them. They are then given to you after treatment to restore your body's lost blood cells in what is known as a stem cell transplant.
- Targeted Therapy: These are medicines that target abnormal proteins, such as those caused by the Philadelphia chromosome. The drugs can include imatinib, dasatinib and nilotinib, and are taken in pill form.
We take a comprehensive approach to ensure that patients receive the highest level of clinical expertise possible, including access to clinical trials. Every aspect of care at our NJ cancer hospitals is customized to individual needs and treatment goals.
To contact one of New Jersey’s best blood cancer specialists call
844-CANCERNJ or
844-226-2376.