According to the National Cancer Institute, acute lymphoblastic leukemia is another name for acute lymphocytic leukemia. Both are commonly referred to as ALL. ALL strikes both children and adults. Treatment is often a difficult, harrowing procedure, but the odds of a positive outcome are very good, particularly in children. According to the National Cancer Institute, between 1975 and 2002, the five-year survival rate has increased from 60 to 89 percent for children younger than 15 years.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is used to put acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients in remission and to sustain a remission and prevent relapse. There are many subtle variations in how these drugs work, but they are all aimed at preventing the growth of cancer cells, often by inhibiting synthesis of DNA. Combination drug cocktails are commonly used.
Depending upon the particular drug, administration may be oral, IV, or local. According to the National Cancer Institute, most chemo regimes also include central nervous system sanctuary therapy. CNS sanctuary therapy involves injecting drugs in the fluid-filled space between the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. It is required because many drugs cannot pass the blood-brain barrier.
Radiation
Mayoclinic.com explains that radiation therapy uses X-rays or other high-energy beams to damage leukemia cells and stop their growth. Radiation therapy can involve application of radiation from a source outside the body or the surgical implantation of a needle or packet containing the radioactive material. Unlike most drugs, radiation does not have problems passing the blood brain barrier. Sometimes radiation beams are intentionally focused upon areas that are difficult for drugs to reach.
Bone Marrow Transplant
Mayoclinic.com explains that a stem cell transplant is a procedure to replace diseased bone marrow with healthy bone marrow. Bone marrow transplants are also called stem cell transplants. They are used in junction with very high dose chemotherapy. Chemo doses are so high that they destroy the patient's bone marrow and all the cancer cells contained therein. Since all the good cells were destroyed as well, those cells must be repopulated using stem cells harvested from a donor, or in some cases from the patient themselves. If the stem cells were harvested from the patient, it is called an autologous stem cell transplant. Autologous stem cell transplants require that the cells put back into the patient be free from cancer cells. If the patient uses his own cells for a bone marrow transplant, those cells must be purged of unhealthy cells.
