At Memorial Sloan-Kettering, a team of more than 20 specialists work together in a multidisciplinary team to provide the best possible clinical care.
Improving the Standard of Care
Treatment for leukemia may involve chemotherapy, stem cell transplantation, or both. Our leukemia experts are also continually improving standards of care through clinical research. We have many active studies under way that incorporate innovative treatments for newly diagnosed and relapsed acute and chronic myeloid and lymphocytic leukemias.
Immunotherapy
One area that shows great promise is immunotherapy, which uses the body's immune system to fight cancer. Memorial Sloan-Kettering is the leader in using antibodies to target and destroy leukemia cells. Our researchers are also combining human monoclonal antibodies with extremely potent "alpha-emitting" radioisotopes to kill cancer cells. Memorial Sloan-Kettering is the first institution in the world to evaluate these biological "smart bombs," which are precisely targeted and produce few side effects.
Novel Treatments for APL
Memorial Sloan-Kettering investigators helped develop two important treatments for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). The first, retinoic acid, is usually used in patients with newly diagnosed disease. The second, arsenic trioxide, has been shown to be useful in some patients whose disease has come back. As the result of research led by Memorial Sloan-Kettering, the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of these agents.
Transplantation
Our researchers are developing ways to make blood and bone marrow transplantation more widely available. In most centers, a marrow transplant from a normal donor is considered only if a matched relative is available for marrow donation. However, Memorial Sloan-Kettering is engaged in a program to evaluate marrow and cord blood transplants from matched unrelated donors. Memorial Sloan-Kettering has also pioneered the development of T-cell-depleted allogeneic transplants and donor lymphocyte infusions, which permit matched relatives (such as a patient's parent or child) to serve as donors, and thereby extend transplants to many more patients who require them.
Mini-Transplants
The advances made with peripheral blood stem cell transplantation have also resulted in the development of new techniques for allogeneic transplant in which lower doses of chemotherapy and radiation can be used. These "mini-allo" or "non-myeloablative" transplants have been developed at Memorial Sloan-Kettering for selected patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, as well as for patients with kidney cancer and metastatic melanoma.
