Acute Myeloid Leukemia Overview

Treatment

Doctors will typically use a combination of chemotherapy, radiation, targeted therapy, and stem cell transplant to effectively treat a patient's acute myeloid leukemia. Although the specific treatment will depend on individual cases and can very well shift based on patient response, there is a basic method for treating this type of cancer.

The first major goal of treating this type of cancer is to get the patient into remission. This is typically where doctors will use aggressive rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. To wipe out any remaining cells, doctors can once again use chemotherapy, but will also often schedule patients for a stem cell transplant. Although chemotherapy is intended to help the patient, it also has quite a few serious side effects, including nausea, hair loss, vomiting, loss of appetite, mouth sores, diarrhea or constipation, fatigue, and an increased risk of infection.