Leukemia Chemotherapy

The way that they have found to treat leukemia is by using strong drugs that will kill the cancerous leukemia cells. There are many types of leukemia and many drugs to treat each type, and there may be more than one drug used for this treatment. The drugs are formulated for your child’s illness. As the drug may differ, the methods of administering may differ as well. The drugs can be given orally or with an IV.

If your child does not react well to the needles, there is another method that can be used. This method is using a catheter. There are a few advantages to this method over the others. If your child needs chemotherapy on a regular basis, it can be very hard on their little veins. The catheter is something that will stay in place and easily accessed for each treatment. The catheter is placed in the upper chest so the IV can be connected there for each treatment.

There are cases where the leukemia can be a threat to the spine or the brain. If this is the situation, there is another way to administer the drugs. This is done by injection of the chemotherapy drug directly into the spinal fluid. Since the blood vessels can take the drugs directly to the brain or spinal cord, this will be the best way to get it there.

The brain has some protection around it that can block this medication (as nature is trying to protect the brain) if the other methods are used. These injections are extremely painful, especially for your child if he or she is young. Another method that can be used when this option is too painful, is a catheter placed under the scalp. When this is the case, the chemotherapy must be given in a cycle.

This is usually done for a couple of weeks on and then a couple of weeks off to recover because their body is so weak and damaged. This way the body is able to rebuild some and prepare for the next treatment of toxic drugs. There are many other treatments that are still in the trial stage.