Treatment for childhood AML depends on whether or not the patient has been previously treated for leukemia and the type of leukemia. The best treatment is given by cancer doctors with experience in treating children with leukemia, and is given at hospitals where leukemia patients are often treated. Your child may receive treatment that is considered standard based on its effectiveness in a number of patients in past studies, or you may choose to have your child take part in a clinical trial. Not all patients are cured with standard therapy, and some standard treatments may have more side effects than are desired. Your child's treatment will probably be induction chemotherapy using 2 or more chemotherapy drugs to kill cancer cells and cause the leukemia to go into remission.
Induction chemotherapy is usually successful in inducing remission.
Intrathecal chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy to the brain may be given to prevent the spread of cancer cells to the brain and spinal cord. Biological therapy may be added to treatment to help your child recover more quickly from the side effects of induction therapy. You may want to consider entering your child into a clinical trial. Treatments currently being studied in clinical trials include new chemotherapy drugs, bone marrow transplantation, and biological therapy. Unwanted side effects can result from treatment long after it ends, so it is important that your child continue to be seen by his or her doctor.