Treating Infant Leukemia

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An infant recently made a flight to Seattle, Washington to receive a stem cell transplant. The baby suffers from infant leukemia, diagnosed when the child was three months old. Following surgery to ease pressure on her brain, chemotherapy, and the battle against infection, her mother says that the child was not expected to survive. However, members of the oncology team at Children's Hospital were going to do everything they could to give this child a chance at life.

Following her arrival in Seattle for a stem cell transplant, the child will endure two weeks of diagnostics and screenings. Following that she will undergo, four days of intense chemotherapy, followed by three days of radiation. The Seattle Children's Hospital is the site for the stem cell transplant, by the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Umbilical cord stem cells will be transplanted into the infant, which will hopefully trigger her damaged body to manufacture and create healthy bone marrow and blood cells.

Most infant leukemia victims only have a 25% chance of survival, but stem cell transplants drastically increase those horrible odds. The Seattle Children's Hospital has enjoyed a high survival rate for the treatment of infant leukemia victims, a hope to continue such progress as stem cell research and developments continue.

Such stem cell research offers hope to those suffering from both infant and adult leukemia diseases. While the transplant is not intended to be a cure, it does offer hope and the gift of time to small children who may someday benefit from stem cell research and development.

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