The next treatments are called maintenance therapy. These are designed to make the remission last by destroying any remaining disease. Chronic leukemia is generally treated with less intense treatments. Chemotherapy is used for most types of chronic leukemia. BRMs are elements of the body's immune system that are combined with medications to fight cancer.
Cancerous cells crowd out the normal cells in the bone marrow.
Chemotherapy damages normal cells as well as the cancerous cells. The person will be at risk for infection until the bone marrow recovers. The infections can be life threatening. The person will have to avoid sources of infection, such as raw food and people with infections, while the bone marrow is recovering. Severe anemia can cause other problems such as difficulty breathing.