Leukaemia treatment

Thanks to the research we have funded, great advances have been made in the treatment and care of children with leukaemia.

Fifty years ago, a diagnosis of leukaemia was virtually a death sentence for a child. Today, four out of five children diagnosed with leukaemia are now cured.

A major challenge facing doctors today is how to make treatments safer and minimise the risk of treatment-related harm in these children.

Treating acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)
Treating acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)
Treating chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)

Treatment at specialist centres

When a child is diagnosed with leukaemia, they will be referred immediately to a specialist centre so that treatment can begin as soon as possible. The medical and nursing staff in these hospitals have special expertise in caring for children with leukaemia.

Treatment may last as long as three years. Some of this time will be spent in hospital but much of it is likely to be spent at home.

Because the specialist centre may be quite some distance from home, the child’s care may be shared between the specialist centre and the family’s local hospital. The specialist centre will retain overall responsibility for the child’s care but some of the routine procedures can be carried out at the local hospital. This helps to reduce the disruption to family life by reducing the amount of travel required.

Read more: Funding treatment facilities

Clinical trials

Many children have their treatment as part of a clinical research trial.

Trials aim to improve our understanding of the best way to treat leukaemia – they usually compare the standard treatment with a new or modified version of the standard treatment. Information gathered from successive trials has been one of the most important factors in the increasing survival rates for childhood leukaemia.

Most children diagnosed with leukaemia will be asked to take part in a trial. Taking part is entirely voluntary; the medical team will provide detailed information and you will be given plenty of time to decide whether it is right for your child. Children who do not take part will receive the current standard treatment.

Read more: Our research projects

Tailored treatment

The main treatment for childhood leukaemia is chemotherapy. Some children will also require radiotherapy and/or a stem cell (bone marrow) transplant.

When treatments for childhood leukaemia were first developed in the 1960s, all children were given the same treatment. The treatment worked well for some children, but was not successful for many.

Today we know that leukaemia is actually a collection of diseases, characterised by different genetic changes. Clinical trials have shown that these different forms of leukaemia should be treated differently.

When a child is first diagnosed with leukaemia, analysis of blood and bone marrow samples provides the information that doctors need to determine exactly how to treat the child.

Treating acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)
Treating acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)
Treating chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)

Side effects and complications

Leukaemia treatments involve high doses of toxic drugs. These drugs are effective in killing the deadly leukaemic cells but unfortunately they can also damage normal, healthy cells, putting the child at risk of harmful side-effects.

Short-term side effects such as hair loss, nausea and anaemia are common but temporary problems. With good supportive care, they can be kept to a minimum.

But some children may experience more serious effects, which persist for months or years after treatment, or ‘late’ effects which do not develop or become apparent until years after treatment ends. The risk of these effects varies from child to child, depending on the drugs used and the intensity of treatment, as well as the age of the child at the time of treatment.

A major consideration in the development of new treatments is how to minimise the risk of harmful effects.

Read more: Side effects of treatment | Currently funded treatment projects

A holiday for sick and recovering children

Alongside funding research into childhood cancer, we also provide funding for projects that help children and families on this difficult journey.

Thanks to generous friends of Children with Cancer UK, we are able to offer the families of a child who has recently had, and is recovering from, leukaemia or another life-threatening illness, a well-deserved holiday in Tuscany.

Read more: Holidays in Tuscany | Other ways we're helping

Hear from others

Coping with the diagnosis of cancer and the subsequent treatment and uncertainties is extremely difficult for children and their families.

Hear from families who have kindly offered to share their experiences to help others understand what it’s like to live with childhood leukaemia.

Read more: Patient stories

Related Topics treatment, acute myeloid leukaemia, leukaemia, Chronic myeloid leukaemia, symptoms, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, diagnosis

Leukaemia treatment

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