Treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)

There are things you can do to help you feel more in control of your health when preparing for treatment. This is called prehabilitation or prehab.

Treatment for ALL usually starts quite quickly after diagnosis. You usually have steroids followed by chemotherapy. Find out about these and other treatments you might have such as a targeted cancer drug or stem cell transplant.

Treatment for ALL is divided into different phases: induction, consolidation, intensification and maintenance. Find out more.

Chemotherapy is the main treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Get an overview of what chemotherapy drugs are used in the phases of treatment.

You may have immunotherapy or a targeted cancer drug to help treat some types of ALL. Targeted cancer drugs work by targeting the differences in cancer cells that help them to grow and survive. Immunotherapy, such as CAR T-cell therapy uses the immune system to attack the cancer.

You might have a stem cell transplant as part of your treatment for ALL. In ALL, you have the stem cells from someone else (a donor). This is called an allogeneic transplant.

Leukaemia that does not go away with treatment is called refractory leukaemia. If it comes back after treatment it is called relapsed disease. Find out about possible treatment options and ways to help you cope with this situation. 

Treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) might cause short and long term side effects. Short term side effects happen during treatment or very soon after you finish. Long term side effects can develop weeks, months or years after treatment has ended. Find out more.

Read about research into ALL, what clinical trials are and how to take part. 

You have follow up appointments and tests after treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Find out what to expect.