Chemotherapy for Leukemia
Chemotherapy is combination of treatment which uses powerful drugs and chemicals in order to kill cancer cells. These drugs can be taken by mouth, injected in veins, and injected into muscles etc. There are some side effects of these drugs and treatment. Some are short time effects which can be controlled at the same time but others are long time effects and takes huge time to recover there are different form of chemotherapy depending upon the type of cancer and the stage of the cancer. Leukemia is another form of cancer in which blood cells are destroyed in huge number and become irregular cancer cells. These blood cancer cells float through blood to all parts of body. This irregular blood flow is very dangerous for the person as it can destroy any part in no time and can cause damages to even brain.
There are different forms of leukemia and due to which chemotherapy for all these forms are different from person to person. Chemotherapy with different anti cancer drugs destroys the cancer cells and prevent them from reoccurring and rapid growth. Anything which affects the cancer cells also puts bad effect on good regular cells of the body parts due to which these cells destroyed in huge number. This cell destruction is the side effect of chemotherapy. This can cause weakness, hair loss, effects to reproductive system, anemia, mouth sores, gastrointestinal symptoms, and infections. There should be a proper medical checkup and tests taken due to which these side effects can be minimized.
Another side effect of leukemia is Tumorlysis Syndrome. It is caused due to rapid breakdown of leukemia cells by chemotherapy drugs. These cells release the metabolic byproducts, and minerals into blood stream, any of which can, harm kidneys, heart and nervous system. Doctors always keep this situation in view and also prescribe some extra fluids, sodium bicarbonate, and allopurinol in order to get rid of body waste and destroyed cells. Another effect is called Acute Myelogenous leukemia known as AML. This is treated with a combination package of drugs for about number of days. Anthracycline for three days and Ara-C for seven days are a complete treatment. This method is also known as 7-3 method. In these days 7 and 3 a person can get rid of these effects by the correct use of the prescribed medicine as according to the medical attendant.
The most effective treatment in leukemia is chemotherapy with daunorubicin, or doxorubicin. These are injected directly into the veins. Its side effects include gastrointestinal effects and can also cause heart damage. Another method is chemotherapy with all-trans retinoic. It is provided by mouth in the form of pills. It has some effects like fever, edema, weight gain, and hyperleukocytosis. There are many different types of leukemia treatments with different combination of drugs with chemotherapy. This type of chemotherapy is used after a medical check up of patient which is very important in order to find out that person is able to undergo chemotherapy due to its after effects.
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