Primary Health Care: Open Access

Learn more about treatments for leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Leukaemia is cancer of blood-forming tissues, including bone marrow. Many types exist such as acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, acute myeloid leukaemia and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Many patients with slow-growing types of leukaemia don't have symptoms. Rapidly growing types of leukaemia may cause symptoms that include fatigue, weight loss, frequent infections and easy bleeding or bruising. Treatment is highly variable. For slow-growing leukaemias, treatment may include monitoring. For aggressive leukaemias, treatment includes chemotherapy that's sometimes followed by radiation and stem-cell transplant. Blood cells are made inside your bone marrow, and that’s where leukemia starts. It causes your body to make white blood cells that grow out of control and live longer than they’re supposed to. And unlike normal white blood cells, they don’t help your body fight infection. There are many different forms of leukemia. Some get worse quickly (acute). You’ll probably feel very sick very suddenly, like you’ve come down with the flu. Other forms can take years to cause symptoms (chronic). Your first clue may be abnormal results on a routine blood test. Most signs of leukemia happen because the cancer cells keep your healthy blood cells from growing and working normally.