There are no signs or symptoms of leukemia. Refractory disease means the leukemia has not gone into remission following treatment. The primary treatment of AML is chemotherapy. Radiation therapy may be used in certain cases. Bone marrow transplantation and biological therapy are being studied in clinical trials.
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells.
Drugs may be given by mouth, or they may be put into the body by a needle in a vein or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body. If the leukemia cells have spread to the brain, radiation therapy to the brain or intrathecal chemotherapy will be given. The first stage is called induction therapy. The purpose of induction therapy is to kill as many of the leukemia cells as possible and make patients go into remission.