Leukemia and lymphomas are the most common childhood cancers. They affect the hematopoietic system in the bone marrow and lymph nodes, respectively.
Chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment for these diseases: the drugs used inhibit cell growth and thus, destroy the cancer cells. In some cases, it is useful to supplement chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation, targeted therapies and radiation.
For the individualized management of therapy, we measure the sensitivity of the leukemia cells to the drugs used for each individual patient and can thus control the required intensity of therapy. This way, we can determine in which patients the chances of cure can be improved by the additional use of a stem cell transplant or targeted immunotherapies.
