Chemotherapy
Patients who have chemotherapy take one or more anti-cancer drugs intravenously (through a tube in one of the veins) or sometimes by mouth.
Chemotherapy is given in cycles: a treatment period followed by a recovery period, then another treatment period, and so on.
The drugs enter the bloodstream and destroy leukemia cells throughout the body. However, they cannot reach the brain and spinal cord, because of a protective network of blood vessels that keeps foreign substances from entering the central nervous system. In certain cases, doctors need to inject the drugs directly into the spinal fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord using a spinal tap or an Omaya reservoir (a device surgically inserted under the scalp to inject chemotherapy drugs directly into the spinal fluid).
More on Leukemia
Treatments for Leukemia
In the Encyclopedia:
Leukemias, acute
Alemtuzumab
Beta2-microglobulin test
Bone marrow transplantation
Leukemias, chronic
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