SEATTLE - A treatment strong enough to cure patients with the most common form of leukemia can also kill them, which is why its use has been limited. But new research shows that for the majority of patients, the benefits far outweigh the risks.
Randall Burnham thought he had the flu, but the diagnosis came back acute myeloid leukemia.
"It was just a week before I was diagnosed that I started having these fevers and chills," said Burnham.
"12,000 new patients every year is a sizeable number of people who have to deal with a potentially life threatening illness, where a couple of weeks earlier they would have been fine going about their everyday business," said Dr. John Koreth, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
A chromosomal analysis predicts the patient's response to treatment as "poor", "intermediate" or "good."
The initial treatment consists of chemotherapy, and nearly 70 percent of patients under age 60 will go into remission.
"In other words, the bone marrow and the blood have been restored to a normal looking state," said Koreth. "They aren't cured, there is still cancer lurking,"
But it's the optimal next step to prevent a relapse is unclear. A bone marrow transplant from a compatible donor gives best chance of success, but also has the most side effects.
The research found that the transplant boosted survival rates of patients with poor and intermediate risk.
"For intermediate risk even the experts were stumped. We are coming along and saying actually it's fairly straightforward you should strongly consider an allogeneic transplant rather than the alternative treatments based on the cumulative experience of several thousands of patients."
Two years after his transplant, Burnham is appreciating the little things in life more than ever.
"Hugging your grandchildren is a boost to your well-being, how you're going to get through the changes that have taken place in your life," said Burnham.
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