Leukemia | Doctor's Notes

Here is some information about Elizabeth's diagnosis and treatment that was explain to us at the very beginning of treatment.  This is from the doctor's notes....

• Elizabeth has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)
• It's cancer of the blood
• It is fatal without treatment
• With treatment chances for 5 year disease free survival (cure) is ~76%-90%
• Treatment depends on the risk category
• Risk category is determined by two criteria
• White Blood Count (WBC) at first lab draw
• Standard treatment when WBC is less than 50,000
• High risk treatment when WBC is above 50,000
• Age
• More than 10 years old is High Risk
• Even though Elizabeth is less than 10 years old, because her WBC was 76,000 at the first lab draw she is in the High Risk category.
• They also look at the type of cells. T-cells or B-precursor cells. Elizabeth's is B-precursor.

So Elizabeth's full diagnosis is High Risk B-Precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.  This is the most common type.

Here is the notes about Elizabeth's treatment....

• All ALL patients receive chemotherapy
• Chemotherapy is the front line perscription
• Chemotherapy are drugs that kill cancer cells
• Treatment for ALL is a long duration
• 2 1/2 years for girls
• First 6 months most intense
• Four phases of treatment
• Phase I - Induction (Induce Remission) with chemotherapy
• 4-6 weeks long
• 95-98% in remission by end of Phase I
• Remission means less then 5% Blasts (immature cells) in bone marrow
• Phase II - Consolidation
• 4-6 weeks
• Interim maintenance for 6-8 weeks long
• Phase III - Reintensification
• 6-8 weeks
• Phase IV - Maintenance
• Oral chemotherapy