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Cancer Treatment Options
Radiation & Surgery
Radiation: Radiation treatment is used sometimes to treat leukemia cells in the brain and spinal fluid or testicles. It is also used, though rarely, in an emergency to treat compression of the trachea (windpipe). Even in this situation, however, radiation is being replaced by chemotherapy.
Surgery: Because leukemia cells spread so widely through the bone marrow and to many other organs, it is impossible to cure this type of cancer by surgery. Surgery rarely has any role even in the diagnosis, since a bone marrow aspirate is usually all that is needed to identify and classify leukemias.
At the time of leukemia diagnosis or soon thereafter a surgeon may put a venous access device (large plastic tube) into a large vein. The end of the tube is under the skin of the chest area or upper arm. Having such a venous access device will allow the nurses to inject chemotherapy and other medications more safely and remove blood samples without discomfort. It is very important for a patient to learn how to care for the venous access device to prevent it from becoming infected.
Find out more about&
Chemotherapy | Blood Stem Cell Transplants
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Leukemia Cancer Information