How is leukemia treated?
A person usually has a combination of different types of treatment. The most common types of treatment for leukemia are chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, bone marrow or stem cell transplant, biologic therapy, and surgery. Each is described below. Chemotherapy. Most people with leukemia are treated with chemotherapy. This treatment uses drugs to kill cancer cells. People may take 2 or more drugs. Some of the drugs are taken as a pill, but most are given intravenously (IV). This treatment is considered systemic, meaning it destroys cancer cells throughout the entire body. Radiation therapy. The goal of radiation is to kill cancer cells using X-rays. This treatment is sometimes used in combination with chemotherapy or with a bone marrow transplant. You can receive radiation over the whole body, called total-body irradiation (TBI). Or you may receive radiation to just one part where more leukemia cells have gathered. Sometimes radiation is used to treat leukemia in the bra
