Many different anti-cancer drugs are effective for the treatment of AML. Treatments vary somewhat according to the age of the patient and according to the specific subtype of AML. Overall, the strategy is to control bone marrow and systemic (whole-body) disease, while offering specific treatment for the central nervous system (CNS), if involved.

In general, most oncologists rely on combinations of drugs for the initial, "induction phase" of chemotherapy. Such combination chemotherapy usually offers the benefits of early remission and a lower risk of disease resistance. "Consolidation" and "maintenance" treatments are intended to prevent disease recurrence. Consolidation treatment often entails a repetition of induction chemotherapy or the intensification chemotherapy with additional drugs. By contrast, maintenance treatment involves drug doses that are lower than those administered during the induction phase.

For most people with CLL, it is incurable by present treatments, so treatment is directed towards suppressing the disease for many years, rather than totally and permanently eliminating it. The primary chemotherapeutic plan is combination chemotherapy with chlorambucil or cyclophosphamide, plus a corticosteroid such as prednisone or prednisolone. The use of a corticosteroid has the additional benefit of suppressing some related autoimmune diseases, such as immunohemolytic anemia or immune-mediated thrombocytopenia. In resistant cases, single-agent treatments with nucleoside drugs such as fludarabine, pentostatin, or cladribine may be successful. Younger and healthier patients may choose allogeneic or autologous bone marrow transplantation in the hope of a permanent cure.

First-line treatment of AML consists primarily of chemotherapy, and is divided into two phases: induction and postremission (or consolidation) therapy. The goal of induction therapy is to achieve a complete remission by reducing the number of leukemic cells to an undetectable level; the goal of consolidation therapy is to eliminate any residual undetectable disease and achieve a cure. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is usually considered if induction chemotherapy fails or after a person relapses, although transplantation is also sometimes used as front-line therapy for people with high-risk disease. Efforts to use tyrosine kinase inhibitors in AML continue.

All FAB subtypes except M3 are usually given induction chemotherapy with cytarabine (ara-C) and an anthracycline (most often daunorubicin). This induction chemotherapy regimen is known as "7+3" (or "3+7"), because the cytarabine is given as a continuous IV infusion for seven consecutive days while the anthracycline is given for three consecutive days as an IV push. Up to 70% of people with AML will achieve a remission with this protocol. Other alternative induction regimens, including high-dose cytarabine alone, FLAG-like regimens or investigational agents, may also be used. Because of the toxic effects of therapy, including myelosuppression and an increased risk of infection, induction chemotherapy may not be offered to the very elderly, and the options may include less intense chemotherapy or palliative care.

The M3 subtype of AML, also known as acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), is almost universally treated with the drug all-"trans"-retinoic acid (ATRA) in addition to induction chemotherapy, usually an anthracycline. Care must be taken to prevent disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), complicating the treatment of APL when the promyelocytes release the contents of their granules into the peripheral circulation. APL is eminently curable, with well-documented treatment protocols.

The goal of the induction phase is to reach a complete remission. Complete remission does not mean the disease has been cured; rather, it signifies no disease can be detected with available diagnostic methods. Complete remission is obtained in about 50%–75% of newly diagnosed adults, although this may vary based on the prognostic factors described above. The length of remission depends on the prognostic features of the original leukemia. In general, all remissions will fail without additional consolidation therapy.

Most patients with T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia require immediate treatment.

T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia is difficult to treat, and it does not respond to most available chemotherapeutic drugs. Many different treatments have been attempted, with limited success in certain patients: purine analogues (pentostatin, fludarabine, cladribine), chlorambucil, and various forms of combination chemotherapy regimens, including cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone (CHOP), etoposide, bleomycin (VAPEC-B).

Alemtuzumab (Campath), an anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody that attacks white blood cells, has been used in treatment with greater success than previous options. In one study of previously treated people with T-PLL, people who had a complete response to alemtuzumab survived a median of 16 months after treatment.

Some patients who successfully respond to treatment also undergo stem cell transplantation to consolidate the response.

Natural killer (NK) cell therapy is used in pediatrics for children with relapsed lymphoid leukemia. These patients normally have a resistance to chemotherapy, therefore, in order to continue on, must receive some kind of therapy. In some cases, NK cell therapy is a choice.

NK cells are known for their ability to eradicate tumor cells without any prior sensitization to them. One problem when using NK cells in order to fight off lymphoid leukemia is the fact that it is hard to amount enough of them to be effective. One can receive donations of NK cells from parents or relatives through bone marrow transplants. There are also the issues of cost, purity and safety. Unfortunately, there is always the possibility of Graft vs host disease while transplanting bone marrow.

NK cell therapy is a possible treatment for many different cancers such as Malignant glioma.

The treatment a child will undergo is based on the child's age, overall health, medical history, their tolerance for certain medications, procedures, and therapies, along with the parents' opinion and preference.

- Chemotherapy is a treatment that uses drugs to interfere with the cancer cells ability to grow and reproduce. Chemotherapy can be used alone or in combination with other therapies. Chemotherapy can be given either as a pill to swallow orally, an injection into the fat or muscle, through an IV directly into the bloodstream, or directly into the spinal column.

- A stem cell transplant is a process by which healthy cells are infused into the body. A stem-cell transplant can help the human body make enough healthy white blood cells, red blood cells, or platelets, and reduce the risk of life-threatening infections, anemia, and bleeding. It is also known as a bone-marrow transplant or an umbilical-cord blood transplant, depending on the source of the stem cells. Stem cell transplants can use the cells from the same person, called an autologous stem cell transplant or they can use stem cells from other people, known as an allogenic stem cell transplant. In some cases, the parents of a child with childhood leukemia may conceive a saviour sibling by preimplantation genetic diagnosis to be an appropriate match for the HLA antigen.

As described above, chloromas should always be considered manifestations of systemic disease, rather than isolated local phenomena, and treated as such. In the patient with newly diagnosed leukemia and an associated chloroma, systemic chemotherapy against the leukemia is typically used as the first-line treatment, unless an indication for local treatment of the chloroma (e.g. compromise of the spinal cord) emerges. Chloromas are typically quite sensitive to standard antileukemic chemotherapy. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation should be considered in fit patients with suitable available donor, as long term remissions have been reported.

If the chloroma is persistent after completion of induction chemotherapy, local treatment, such as surgery or radiation therapy, may be considered, although neither has an effect on survival.

Patients presenting with a primary chloroma typically receive systemic chemotherapy, as development of acute leukemia is nearly universal in the short term after detection of the chloroma.

Patients treated for acute leukemia who relapse with an isolated chloroma are typically treated with systemic therapy for relapsed leukemia. However, as with any relapsed leukemia, outcomes are unfortunately poor.

Patients with "preleukemic" conditions, such as myelodysplastic syndromes or myeloproliferative syndromes, who develop a chloroma are often treated as if they have transformed to acute leukemia.

If a patient has the symptoms like leukemia, such as persistent fever or difficulty of hemostais, he has to see the doctors.

BAL is very hard to treat. Most of patients receive treatment based on the morphology of blasts and get AML or ALL induction chemotherapy. The induction drug for AML such as cytarabine and anthracycline, drug for ALL such as prednisolone, dexamethasone, vincristine, asparaginase or daunorubicin is common for BAL remission induction therapy. Recently, researches showed that using both myeloid and lymphoid induction therapy may be better for prognosis.

Chemotherapy is strong side effects such as typhlitis, gastrointestinal distress, anemia, fatigue, hair loss, nausea and vomiting, etc. Thus, the different dose and times of chemotherapy for different individuals is important.

If the patients enter fully remission, the consolidation with stem cell transplantation is highly recommended.

ANKL is treated similarly to most B-cell lymphomas. Anthracycline-containing chemotherapy regimens are commonly offered as the initial therapy. Some patients may receive a stem cell transplant.

Most patients will die 2 years after diagnosis.

Treatment for erythroleukemia generally follows that for other types of AML, not otherwise specified. It consists of chemotherapy, frequently consisting of

cytarabine, daunorubicin, and idarubicin. It can also involve bone marrow transplantation.

Alemtuzumab has been investigated for use in treatment of refractory T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia.

Immunoglobulin E (IgE) is important in mast cell function. Immunotherapy with anti-IgE immunoglobulin raised in sheep resulted in a transient decrease in the numbers of circulating mast cells in one patient with mast cell leukemia. Although splenectomy has led to brief responses in patients with mast cell leukemia, no firm conclusions as to the efficacy of this treatment are possible. Chemotherapy with combination of cytosine arabinoside and either idarubicin, daunomycin, or mitoxantrone as for acute myeloid leukemia has been used. Stem cell transplantation is an option, although no experience exists concerning responses and outcome.

Generally, acute myeloid leukemia is treated using chemotherapy consisting of an induction phase and consolidation phase (Dohner et al., 2009). Patients may also consider hematopoietic stem cell transplantation as a second mode of tackling the cancer. The most novel research is being done in tyrosine kinase inhibitors; however M2 acute myeloid leukemia treatment research involves molecules that inhibit the fusion oncoprotein AML1-ETO. Therefore, in terms of M2 subtype acute myeloid leukemia, the most prominent target is the abnormal AML1-ETO fusion protein. Similarly, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is comparable to acute myeloid leukemia M2 because it also forms a fusion oncoprotein – BCR-Abl. The developed tyrosine kinase inhibitor, imatinib mesylate, has had a tremendous effect on stopping cancer progression in the majority of chronic myeloid leukemia patients. BCR-Abl is constitutively active due chromosome translocation; therefore it over-phosphorylates the tyrosine kinase. Imatinib mesylate works to block BCR-Abl’s activity by blocking the active kinase domain (Fava et al., 2011).

Celastrol is a compound extracted from Tripterygium wilfordii that has anti-cancer properties. It was found to inhibit cell proliferation through the down regulation of AML1-ETO fusion oncoprotein. Celastrol inhibits the fusion oncoprotein by inducing mitochondrial instability and initiating caspase activity The decrease of AML1-ETO also results in lower levels of C-KIT kinases, Akt/PKB, STAT3, and Erk1/2 – all of which are involved in cell signaling and gene transcription (Yu et al., 2016).

Histone deacetylase inhibitors such as valproic acid (VPA), vorinostat, and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) are effective in targeting acute myeloid leukemia with the AML1-ETO fusion protein. The HDAC inhibitors are known to induce apoptosis through accumulation of DNA damage, inhibition of DNA repair, and activation of caspases. These inhibitors are extra sensitive to the fusion proteins. Vorinostat has been proven to cause a greater accumulation of DNA damage in fusion protein expressing cells and is directly correlated with the reduction of DNA repair enzymes (Garcia et al., 2008). Romidepsin, a drug in phase two clinical trials, has demonstrated higher efficacy in patients with AML1-ETO fusion protein leukemia (Odenike et al., 2008). Although many clinical evaluations have proven HDAC inhibitors have a promising effect on M2 subtype acute myeloid leukemia, it has not been approved as an official treatment.

In t(6;9) acute myeloid leukemia, FLT3-ITD and the DEK-NUP214 protein are potential targets for treatment. Sorafenib is a kinase inhibitor used as a treatment for kidney and liver cancer. The kinase inhibitor blocks serine-threonine kinase RAF-1 as well as FLT-ITD (Kindler, 2010). The drug has been proven to be effective in reducing FLT3-ITD overexpression (Metzelder et al., 2009). In patients with DEK-NUP214, it was found that the fusion oncoprotein caused an upregulation of mTORC1 (Sanden et al., 2013). Thus, a mTORC inhibitor could be a potential treatment.

Due to the high risk of recurrence and ensuing problems, close monitoring of dogs undergoing chemotherapy is important. The same is true for dogs that have entered remission and ceased treatment. Monitoring for disease and remission/recurrence is usually performed by palpation of peripheral lymph nodes. This procedure detects gross changes in peripheral lymph nodes. Some of the blood tests used in diagnosing lymphoma also offer greater objectivity and provide an earlier warning of an animal coming out of remission.

Complete cure is rare with lymphoma and treatment tends to be palliative, but long remission times are possible with chemotherapy. With effective protocols, average first remission times are 6 to 8 months. Second remissions are shorter and harder to accomplish. Average survival is 9 to 12 months. The most common treatment is a combination of cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, L-asparaginase, and doxorubicin. Other chemotherapy drugs such as chlorambucil, lomustine (CCNU), cytosine arabinoside, and mitoxantrone are sometimes used in the treatment of lymphoma by themselves or in substitution for other drugs. In most cases, appropriate treatment protocols cause few side effects, but white blood cell counts must be monitored.

Allogeneic and autologous stem cell transplantations (as is commonly done in humans) have recently been shown to be a possible treatment option for dogs. Most of the basic research on transplantation biology was generated in dogs. Current cure rates using stem cell therapy in dogs approximates that achieved in humans, 40-50%.

When cost is a factor, prednisone used alone can improve the symptoms dramatically, but it does not significantly affect the survival rate. The average survival times of dogs treated with prednisone and untreated dogs are both one to two months. Using prednisone alone can cause the cancer to become resistant to other chemotherapy agents, so it should only be used if more aggressive treatment is not an option.

Isotretinoin can be used to treat cutaneous lymphoma.

Childhood leukemia is a very taxing disease, on the caregiver and the child. The emotional distress and post traumatic stress which it causes is very deep; studies show that only 3% of parents have to deal with their child becoming severely ill. It is common to experience stress, depression, and anxiety throughout and after cancer treatment.

Many people find it helpful to talk about their feelings with family and friends, health professionals, other patients, members of the clergy, and counselors or therapists. Being part of a support group can provide another outlet for people to share their feelings. Relaxation techniques, such as guided imagery and slow rhythmic breathing, can also help to ease negative thoughts or feelings. Reaching out to others, by participating in volunteer activities, can help people to feel stronger and more in control.

The prognosis for BAL patients is not good which is worse than ALL and AML. Medical Blood Institute reported cases of CR rate was 31.6%, with a median remission are less than 6 months

The median survival time is only 7.5 months. The life quality is also low because the immune function of patient is damaged seriously. They have to stay in hospital and need 24h care.

In another study, the results showed that young age, normal karyotype and ALL induction therapy will have a better prognosis than Ph+, adult patients. The study shows median survival of children is 139 months versus 11 months of adults, 139 months for normal karyotype patients versus 8 months for ph+ patients.

Acute mast cell leukemia is extremely aggressive and has a grave prognosis. In most cases, multi-organ failure including bone marrow failure develops over weeks to months. Median survival after diagnosis is only about 6 months.

T-PLL is an extremely rare aggressive disease, and patients are not expected to live normal lifespans. Before the recent introduction of better treatments, such as alemtuzumab, the median survival time was 7.5 months after diagnosis. More recently, some patients have survived five years and more, although the median survival is still low.

Since leukostais/ hyperleukostasis is associated with leukemia, preventative treatments are put into action upon diagnosis.

Patients with hyerleukocystois associated with leukemia are always considered candidates for tumor lysis syndrome prophylaxis in addition to aggressive intravenous hydration with allopurinol or rasburicase to decrease serum uric acid levels.

Information on prognosis is limited by the rarity of the condition. Prognosis appears to be no different to AML in general, taking into account other risk factors. Acute erythroid leukemia (M6) has a relatively poor prognosis. A 2010 study of 124 patients found a median overall survival of 8 months. A 2009 study on 91 patients found a median overall survival for erythroleukemia patients of 36 weeks, with no statistically significant difference to other AML patients. AEL patients did have a significantly shorter disease free survival period, a median of 32 weeks, but this effect was explained by other prognostic factors. That is, AEL is often associated with other risk factors, like monosomal karyotypes and a history of myelodysplastic syndrome. Prognosis is worse in elderly patients, those with a history of myelodysplastic syndrome, and in patients who had previously received chemotherapy for the treatment of a different neoplasm.

Chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment for lymphoma in cats. Most of the drugs used in dogs are used in cats, but the most common protocol uses cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone. Gastrointestinal lymphoma has also commonly been treated with a combination of prednisolone and high dose pulse chlorambucil with success. The white blood cell count must be monitored. Remission and survival times are comparable to dogs. Lower stage lymphoma has a better prognosis. Multicentric lymphoma has a better response to treatment than the gastrointestinal form, but infection with FeLV worsens the prognosis.

About 75% of cats treated with chemotherapy for lymphoma go into remission. Unfortunately, after an initial remission, most cats experience a relapse, after which they have a median survival of 6 months. However, about one-third of cats treated with chemotherapy will survive more than 2 years after diagnosis; a small number of these cats may be cured of their disease. Untreated, most cats with lymphoma die within 4–6 weeks. Most cats tolerate their chemotherapy well, and fewer than 5% have severe side effects. Cats do not lose their fur from chemotherapy, though loss of whiskers is possible. Other side effects include low white blood cell count, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, or fatigue. These can typically be controlled well, and most cats have a good quality of life during treatment. If a cat relapses after attaining remission, the cat can be treated with different chemotherapy drugs to try for a second remission. The chances of a second remission are much lower than the chances of obtaining a first, and the second remission is often shorter than the first.

Chloromas may occur in patients with a diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) or myeloproliferative syndromes (MPS) (e.g. chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), polycythemia vera, essential thrombocytosis, or myelofibrosis). The detection of a chloroma is considered "de facto" evidence these premalignant conditions have transformed into an acute leukemia requiring appropriate treatment. For example, presence of a chloroma is sufficient to indicate chronic myelogenous leukemia has entered its 'blast crisis' phase.

Myeloid leukemia is a type of leukemia affecting myeloid tissue.

Types include:

- Acute myeloid leukemia

- Chronic myelogenous leukemia

Chronic leukemia is an increase of abnormal white blood cells. It differs from acute leukemia, and is categorized as myelogenous or lymphocytic.

Chronic leukemia may refer to:

- Chronic myelogenous leukemia

- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia

- Hairy cell leukemia