Treatments

The treatments for leukemia are divided into two categories: those that fight the cancer and those that relieve the symptoms. There are four different treatments for leukemia: Chemotherapy, Radiation Therapy, Surgery, and Bone marrow Transplant.

Chemotherapy is the use of a strong drug to kill the cancer cell. If the leukemia cells do not respond to the drug, then protocols take place. A protocol is a specific drug plan. Protocols are named after letters standing for certain drugs. There are two ways in which chemotherapy is given: Central Venous Catheter (CVC) and Spinal Tap (Lumbar Puncture).

CVC is the insertion of a venous catheter, a tube used to measure venous (blood vessels leading to the heart) pressure or insert medicine, into a main blood cell below the collar bone.

Spinal Tap is the insertion of a needle in the lower back. A fluid specimen is removed and chemotherapy is performed. Then the patient is required to lie in a flat bed for 2 hours for the chemotherapy to take effect. This is done while the patient is still awake. Spinal tap is known to be very painful because a hole is drilled in there back.

Side effects of chemotherapy include nausea, vomiting, hair loss, fatigue, bleeding, infection, and anemia.

Radiation Therapy is used with chemotherapy. This is used to stop the growth of the leukemia cells using high-energy beams. Radiation therapy is also given in two different ways. A doctor can send the radiation into a specific area, such as the spleen, or onto the whole body. Side effects include loss of appetite, fatigue, and the patient’s skin turns green.

Surgery is the process of removing the spleen. The spleen is located on the left side of the abdomen. This is done because the leukemia cells are trapped here. This reduces the quantity of diseased cells. The side effects for surgery are pain during recovery, nausea from the drugs of the anesthesia, and bleeding or infection after the surgery.

Bone Marrow Transplant is the process of replacing the leukemia bone marrow that was dosed with chemotherapy. These cells are replaced with new ones for new bone marrow to grow. If the body rejects the new bone marrow, the body shuts down and the patient dies.

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References:

What is Leukemia. 13 Feb. 2007. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
http://www.mdanderson.org/departments/leukemia

Side Effects. 20 Feb. 2007. Howstuffworks
http://www.health.howstuffworks.com

Medical Treatment. 13 Feb. 2007. eMedicineHealth.
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/leukemia

Central Venous Catheter. 22 Feb. 2007. Ansers.com
http://www.answers.com/topic/central-venous-catheter

Venous. 3 April 2007. TheFreeDictionary
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/venous

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