How is acute promyelocytic leukemia treated?

How is acute promyelocytic leukemia treated?

Treatment of acute promyelocitic leukemia differs from all the other subtypes of acute myelogenous leukemia because of the ability to treat the particular genetic syndrome or the genetic defect in this particular cancer. The way it's different from treating the other myelogenous leukemias is that the other leukemias need significant degrees of chemotherapy given many times over a period of one to two years to achieve remission. The acute promyelotic leukemias use chemotherapy but in addition to a drug called All-trans-Retinoic Acid, which is a retinoid, which is a Vitamin A derivative that leads to what we call the maturation of these immature cells to mature white blood cells. So that therapy, in addition to chemotherapy, leads to long term remission.