At UCLH you will have access to the latest treatments and technology and have a personal, individual care plan based around your needs. ALL patients at UCLH are offered the standard treatments and also in most cases are offered the chance to enter a clinical trial. You will receive expert care from an experienced team in a safe and award winning environment.

Your treatment will be delivered within a number of comprehensive specialised services led by medical and nursing cancer care experts. This is enhanced further by support from a dedicated team of Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) and Clinical Trials Nurses and Practitioners who complement the medical team and will oversee your treatment journey. They offer on-going support from diagnosis and treatment to investigations and outcomes. This includes telephone advice and support when you are at home.

Our adult inpatient facility is housed over three floors of University College Hospital, wards T13 North, T14 North and T16. Nearly all of our beds are in single rooms with en suite facilities which have the provision for a family member to stay overnight. On both wards, the average nurse to patient ratio is one nurse for every three or four patients. Day case, ambulatory care and outpatient care is provided from the state-of-the-art University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre.

Treatment planning considers whether certain treatments would the cause the individual more harm than good. Important factors to consider include

  • The patient’s opinion on which treatment(s) they want to receive
  • Patient fitness to receive intensive chemotherapy treatment
  • Medical opinion on which treatment is most effective to control the disease

Initial treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) usually consists of up to four courses of chemotherapy to enable the disease to be treated effectively.

Induction chemotherapy – the aim of this initial stage of treatment is to kill as many leukaemia cells in your bone marrow and blood as possible, restore your blood to proper working order and treat any symptoms you may have. This course will always be as an inpatient and will last approximately 4-6 weeks. A bone marrow aspirate and trephine will then be performed to assess the response to the first course of chemotherapy, to allow a decision to be made on subsequent treatment. Patients will usually have a break at home between courses for approximately 7-10 days, which is beneficial both physically and psychologically.

Consolidation chemotherapy - This stage aims to prevent the leukaemia relapsing, by killing any remaining leukaemia cells that may be present in your body. The consolidation courses are very similar in intensity to the induction treatment and the admission time for each course is also approximately 4-6 weeks. These consolidation treatments are usually started in our Ambulatory Care Unit.

Possible side effects of Intensive Chemotherapy:

  • Infection – minor and major
  • Bleeding and bruising
  • Nausea and Vomiting
  • Diarrhoea
  • Loss of appetite
  • Painful mouth and throat
  • Fatigue
  • Skin rashes
  • Hair loss
  • Fertility issues – not always permanent and where possible, fertility preservation is offered

If you are thought to have a high risk of experiencing complications of AML treatment or have a serious underlying health condition, a less intensive chemotherapy treatment may be an option. This is less likely to successfully kill all of the leukaemia cells in your body, but it can help to control your condition and improve your symptoms. Usually, non-intensive chemotherapy has fewer and less severe side-effects and sometimes can be given at home with outpatient support.

Side effects of non-intensive chemotherapy (less likely than intensive):

  • Infection – minor
  • Bleeding and bruising
  • Nausea and Vomiting
  • Diarrhoea
  • Loss of appetite
  • Painful mouth and throat
  • Fatigue
  • Skin rashes

In the UK, a number of clinical trials are currently underway that aim to find the best way to treat AML. Clinical trials are studies that use new and experimental techniques to see how well they work in treating, and ultimately curing acute leukaemia. Patients may occasionally receive more experimental treatment and trials if their disease is not responding to conventional methods.

Some patients with AML will require a bone marrow transplant to give the best chance of obtaining a long-term cure. We ask newly diagnosed patients under the age of 70 to provide us with their sibling details and a sample of their own blood to assess if there is potential match for a bone marrow transplant within the family. If you do not have a sibling, or they do not match your tissue type, and need a transplant then we can search on the National (and International if needed) Database for Bone Marrow Donors.

Here at UCLH, we recommend the following websites for patients and their relatives when diagnosed with AML: