Major Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatments

Chemotherapy

The age and overall health of the patient with acute myeloid leukemia will dictate the type of chemotherapy used. Doctors now have various choices on how they will proceed with chemotherapy. Given the invasive nature of chemotherapy, the process will need to be completed in the hospital under the watchful eye of trained professionals. The hospital stay can be up to a week and during this time the patient normally feels very ill.

The goal of chemotherapy is to kill the abnormal cells, however, an unfortunate side effect is the destruction of most of the normal bone marrow. The challenge with achieving the desired outcome is extremely high doses of chemotherapy can damage the bone marrow beyond repair. The medical team will need to find the right chemotherapy balance to fight the patient's acute myeloid leukemia.