Targeted Therapies in Leukemia

Leukemia is a cancer of the early blood-forming cells. Most often, leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells, but some leukemias start in other blood cell types. Leukemia is often described as being either acute (fast growing) or chronic (slow growing).

Types of Treatment Available In India.

Different types of leukemia have different treatment options and outlooks.

• Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) in Adults
• Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
• Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
• Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML)
• Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia
• Leukemia in Children Local treatments

As noted earlier, adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is not a single disease. It is really a group of related diseases, and patients with different subtypes of AML can have different outlooks and responses to treatment.

Once AML has been diagnosed, your cancer care team will discuss your treatment options with you. Your options may be affected by the AML subtype and lab tests of the leukemia cells, as well as certain other prognostic factors (described in How is acute myeloid leukemia classified?), as well as your overall state of health.

Several types of treatment may be used for people with AML. The main treatment for AML is chemotherapy, sometimes along with a targeted therapy drug. This might be followed by a stem cell transplant. Other drugs (besides standard chemotherapy drugs) may also be used to treat people with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Surgery and radiation therapy may be used in special circumstances.