How is acute myeloid leukemia (AML) managed or treated in children?

How is acute myeloid leukemia (AML) managed or treated in children?

Children with AML receive slightly different treatments and are treated by pediatric oncologists. The first treatment phase is induction therapy to try to bring about remission. Remission means your child shows no symptoms or signs of the disease and that the cancer cells can’t be detected in the marrow or the blood.

Induction therapy includes:

• Intrathecal chemotherapy: Your child receives an injection of chemotherapy directly into their spinal fluid. Intrathecal chemotherapy can be used to treat cancer that is identified in the cerebral spinal fluid and/or to prevent leukemia from going to that area. It can also be given as a preventative (prophylactic) measure. It can keep cancer cells from spreading to the spine, brain and other parts of the central nervous system.
• Monoclonal antibody therapies: In June 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg®) in children ages 1 month and older with certain types of AML. It also helps children older than two who have cancer that comes back or doesn’t respond to treatment.

The second phase, consolidation therapy, lowers the risk of cancer recurrence (coming back). Treatments include:

• Chemotherapy: Your child may continue to get chemotherapy for several months, and this sometimes includes intrathecal chemo (but this is mostly for acute lymphocytic leukemia/ALL). Children typically don’t need to continue with chemotherapy after the disease is in remission after completing consolidation chemotherapy cycles.
• Stem cell (bone marrow) transplant: Your child receives an infusion of healthy cells from a donor. The donor may be a sibling or a matched unrelated donor.