How Is Eosinophilic Leukemia Treated?
Generally speaking, there’s no standard treatment plan for eosinophilic leukemia. The treatment that’s given depends on different factors, which include the severity of the condition, your age, and your overall health. Some possible treatment options are:
- Targeted therapy. Targeted therapy drugs work to target specific proteins on or in cancer cells, killing them or slowing their growth. Imatinib (Gleevec) is a targeted therapy drug that can be used to treat eosinophilic leukemia.
- Chemotherapy drugs help to kill cancer cells or to block their growth. A couple of examples of chemotherapy drugs that may be used for eosinophilic leukemia are hydroxyurea (Hydrea) and cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan).
- Interferon-alpha. Interferon-alpha is a drug that’s similar to interferon proteins that are naturally produced by your immune system. It can work to slow the growth of leukemia cells.
- Corticosteroids are medications that can decrease the activity of the immune system. As such, they can impede the activity of eosinophils [5] and may be used as a part of some treatment plans for eosinophilic leukemia.
- Stem cell transplant. In a stem cell transplant, a high dose of chemotherapy is used to kill cells in the bone marrow, including both cancerous and healthy cells. Afterward, you’ll receive an infusion of stem cells from which healthy blood cells can then develop.