What is remission?

The main aim of treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is to achieve a remission. This means that the abnormal, immature white cells or blasts can no longer be detected in your blood or bone marrow and normal bone marrow has developed again.

However, once you are in remission there may still be a very small number of abnormal lymphoblasts left. To destroy these, your doctor may prescribe maintenance or continuation chemotherapy which may last for several years. These drugs are mainly taken as tablets and you will need to have regular check-ups to monitor their effect. Very specialised blood tests to find particular proteins present on the surface of the leukaemia cells can show if any leukaemia cells are still present in the body.

For many people with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia the remission lasts indefinitely and the person is said to be cured.

What if ALL comes back?

Unfortunately, in some people the ALL does come back. This is called relapse. The disease may come back in the bone marrow, the fluid around the brain and the spinal cord or, in men, in the testicles.

If you do have a relapse, further treatment can be given, but your leukaemia may be resistant to the drugs initially used.Therefore, different drugs or new combinations of drugs may be needed to give you further remissions. If you have not had a transplant before your doctors may recommend a bone marrow or stem cell transplant.