Bone marrow transplants are being tested in clinical trials. If the spleen is swollen, the doctor may take out the spleen in an operation called a splenectomy. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy may be taken by pill, or it may be put into the body by a needle in the vein, muscle, or under the skin. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body.
Biological therapy tries to get the body to fight the cancer.
It uses materials made by the body or made in a laboratory to boost, direct, or restore the body's natural defenses against disease. Interferon, a substance made by the body to fight off foreign materials, is often used to treat hairy cell leukemia. Bone marrow transplantation is used to replace the bone marrow with healthy bone marrow. First, all of the bone marrow in the body is destroyed with high doses of chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy. The healthy marrow from the donor is given to the patient through a needle in the vein, and the marrow replaces the marrow that was destroyed.