Occurence

APL most commonly strikes children between 2 and 3 and adults over 40. It accounts for 1 percent of childhood leukemias.

Standard Treatment

Standard treatment for APL includes chemotherapy with either daunorubicin or idarubicine plus ATRA, a drug derived from vitamin A. If you cannot tolerate these forms of chemotherapy, you will receive ATRA with Trisenox. After the standard course of treatment, you will typically continue on the ATRA for a year and might also receive low-doses of other types of chemotherapy.

Other Treatments

This condition can trigger blood clots or other bleeding conditions. You might need blood-thinning medications, platelet transfusions or other types of transfusions.

Treatment Resistance/Reoccurence

If your APL does not respond to the typical regimen, your doctor will use a different combination of chemotherapy. Younger patients (under 60) might benefit from a stem cell transplant in cases of resistance or recurrence. Other options include more chemotherapy and/ or the use of certain targeted drug therapies like Mylotarg.

Prognosis

The American Cancer Society notes the above regimen produces a cure in 70 to 90 percent of patients.

Source:

American Cancer Society

St. Jude Children's Hospital