Your choice of treatment depends on whether a patient has been treated before. Untreated Untreated ALL means that no treatment has been given except to treat symptoms. There are too many white blood cells in the blood and bone marrow, and there may be other signs and symptoms of leukemia. In remission Remission means that treatment has been given and that the number of white blood cells and other blood cells in the blood and bone marrow is normal. There are no signs or symptoms of leukemia.
Refractory disease means that the leukemia has failed to go into remission following treatment.
The primary treatment of ALL is chemotherapy. Radiation therapy may be used in certain cases. Bone marrow transplantation is being studied in clinical trials. 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 a vein or muscle.