Acute Myeloid Leukemia or AML is a form of blood cancer. Patients with AML have too many granulocytes, a type of white blood cell generated from a population of stem cells within the bone marrow. In AML, bone marrow cells become mutated and give rise to too many immature granulocytes that accumulate within the blood and fail to mature. Chemotherapy can treat AML, but it can lead to a number of unpleasant side effects throughout the body, since chemotherapy drugs can kill both cancerous and normal cells. There are a number of AML treatments available that serve as alternatives to chemotherapy.
All-Trans Retinoic Acid
All-trans retinoid acid or ATRA is a non-chemotherapy drug used to treat some forms of AML, called acute promyelocytic leukemia. Under normal conditions, ATRA plays a role in governing bone marrow stem cell behavior and aids in the maturation of white blood cells. A study published in BLOOD in 1995 indicates that ATRA can induce the maturation of AML cells into white blood cells. Since AML results from a buildup of immature and dysfunctional white blood cells, taking ATRA can induce white blood cell maturation, stop cell proliferation and treat the leukemia. Unlike chemotherapy, ATRA is not a cytotoxic drug, and does not have to kill the cancer cells to effective treat the cancer.
Bone Marrow Transplant
Another non-chemotherapy treatment option for patients with AML is a bone marrow stem cell transplant, reports Columbia University. Bone marrow transplants are usually considered as treatment options for patients with recurrent or resistent AML. The bone marrow cells act as stem cells for a number of types of blood cells, so mutation to the bone marrow cells leads to mutation in all the blood cells the marrow gives rise to.
A bone marrow transplant involves removing or killing the patient's existing bone marrow with several courses of high dose radiation. Physicians then harvest bone marrow from a donor by inserting a needle into the hipbone. The bone marrow is processed to remove cells that may complicate the transplant, and then the physician inserts the stem cells into the patient's bloodstream. Physicians must monitor AML patients undergoing a bone marrow transplant for signs of rejection or development of graft-versus-host, a life-threatening potential side effect of transplantation.
Targeted Therapy
Another non-chemotherapy treatment option is targeted therapy to kill the cancer cells. Unlike chemotherapy, which involves the use of toxic drugs that affect cancerous and normal cells, targeted therapies selectively target cancer cells and generally cause fewer side effects. Targeted therapeutic agents can include monoclonal antibodies, which are drugs similar to normal antibodies generated within the immune system to ward off infection. Monoclonal antibodies attach to specific proteins, such as those found on cancer cells. The drug binds to the surface of cancer cells by attaching to cancer-specific proteins, and targets the cancer cell for destruction by the immune system. The National Cancer Institute indicates that monoclonal antibody therapies are being studied as a non-chemotherapy treatment for AML.
