Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 25, 2025
Pre-clinical Evaluation of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors for Treatment of Acute Leukemia
Published on: September 18, 2013
[Radiotherapy for the treatment of leukemia]
Michael Oertel1, Hans Theodor Eich1
1Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Gebäude A1, 48149 Münster, Deutschland Klinik für Strahlentherapie - Radioonkologie, Universitätsklinikum Münster.
Background:
Lymphoma cells are highly radiosensitive and consequently, radiation therapy is a rational addition to systemic therapy in the treatment of leukemia. Especially as a conditioning regimen before allogeneic stem cell transplantation, radiation therapy, in the form of total body irradiation, is an established concept.
Objectives:
The present work provides an overview on the execution and side effects of radiation treatment in leukemia. Especially (long-term) side effects after total body irradiation are presented.
Materials And Methods:
A selective search in the database PubMed on radiation treatment of leukemia and on total body irradiation has been carried out, focusing on toxicities as well as technical and conceptional innovations.
Results:
Total body irradiation is a successful conditioning therapy before allogeneic stem cell transplantation and is accompanied by a diverse, but manageable, toxicity spectrum with endocrinological, cardiopulmonary, ophthalmological, nephrological and neurological long-term side effects as well as secondary neoplasia. In addition, low-dose radiotherapy may be utilized to treat myeloid sarcoma (chloroma).
Conclusions:
The variety of side effects after total body irradiation requires an interdisciplinary and long-term aftercare provided by radiation oncologists and medical oncologists/the transplantation team. Technical evolutions may result in a more selective targeting of the bone marrow and lymphatic organs. At the moment, these techniques are not established in clinical routine but are being evaluated in clinical trials.
Related Concept Videos
01:21Stem Cell Therapy for Tissue Regeneration
Types of Stem Cells used in Stem Cell Therapy
The two main cell...
02:57Targeted Cancer Therapies
There are several types of targeted therapies against...
02:50Combination Therapies and Personalized Medicine
The combination of the drug acetazolamide and sulforaphane is a good example of combination therapy to treat cancer. The cells in the interior of a large tumor often die due to the hypoxic and...
01:22Bone Marrow Sampling and Transplants
The transplant begins with high doses of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, which aim to destroy...
02:56Treatment Resistant Cancers
02:49Cancer Therapies
However, cancer treatments can pose several challenges, as therapies used to kill cancer cells are generally also toxic to normal cells. Moreover, cancer cells mutate rapidly and can develop resistance to chemical agents or radiation therapy. Besides, all types of cancer cells may not respond to the same therapy. Some cancer cells respond to one...