Pediatric Leukemia Treatment

Chemotherapy is the main treatment for most leukemias in children. It is a medicine that attacks cancer cells. Often the drugs in chemotherapy stop cancer cells from growing and reproducing. Chemotherapy (or chemo) may be given through a vein (IV) or spinal canal, injected into a muscle, or taken by mouth.  There are several medicines that make up chemotherapy and they are often given at different times. Treatment can have side effects and can be hard on the body, so it is usually done in cycles, with rest periods in between. This gives your child time to recover. 

Radiation therapy uses high-energy X-rays or other types of radiation to target cancer cells. The radiation itself changes the cancer cells’ ability to grow and damages them so they cannot reproduce. Radiation is only used in rare circumstances to treat leukemias, but one way it can be used is for “whole body conditioning” which happens when a child is going to receive a bone marrow transplant.  

Another approach to chemotherapy can take place alongside a stem cell transplant. First, young blood cells, called stem cells, are taken from the child or from a donor. Then, high doses of chemotherapy medicine can be administered. This causes damage to the bone marrow. After the chemotherapy, the stem cells are replaced. The new immune system can then recognize the leukemia cells as foreign and kill them.  

Targeted therapy is a cutting-edge form of precision medicine that uses drugs to single out mutations or antibodies that are specific to how leukemia is created and spreads in the body. In some cases, the mutations that cause leukemia also make it vulnerable to specific drugs that have only limited effects on normal cells. This means that healthy cells have limited contact with the medicine, so they remain unharmed. Some of these medical therapies can be used in combination with chemotherapy.  

Immunotherapy uses the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells, or it uses antibodies to kill cancer cells. Immunotherapies come in many different forms, but the common thread is that the immune system can help kill leukemia cells that are otherwise resistant to chemotherapy.  

Clinical trials are research studies designed to give patients access to innovative treatments before they are available everywhere while learning more about treating pediatric cancers. Clinical trials for children often take place at multiple locations across the nation. Siteman Kids is proud to lead some of these research efforts. Learn more about pediatric clinical trials here.