Treatments
Great advances in treatment and care mean that four out of five children diagnosed with leukaemia are now cured.
Acute forms of leukaemia are rapidly fatal without effective treatment. Fifty years ago almost all children diagnosed with acute leukaemia died, often within weeks.
Advances in treatment and care means that today four out of five children survive. However we still have a long way to go.
There are certain forms of the disease which still evade successful treatment.
Many of the survivors are left with serious, lasting side-effects from the powerful treatments which are used to save their lives.
Treatment usually begins within a few days of diagnosis. All children diagnosed in the UK are treated at specialist paediatric referral centres which can be some distance from home.
The aim of treatment is to achieve a state called remission where almost all leukaemia cells have been killed, allowing production of normal blood cells to resume. Further treatment is given to eradicate the disease completely and achieve a cure.
The child’s doctor will follow a treatment protocol which will vary depending on the form of leukaemia as well as certain risk factors.
For a child's perspective of their experience of leukaemia, visit Chemo to the Rescue - a children's book on leukaemia (you will be re-directed to a different website - new window will open)
Photo: Lodish et al. Molecular Cell Biology, 5th Ed, WH Freeman
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