Chemotherapy and Drug Therapy

If you're being treated for chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), your first line of defense may be drug therapy. You'll be given potent drugs that must be toxic enough to damage or kill the cancer cells. At the same time, these drugs take aim at normal cells and cause side effects. Yet, not everyone experiences side effects and people react differently. 

Drugs Used for CMML

There is no one standard treatment for CMML. There are three FDA approved treatments for patients, which include:

  • Azacitidine (Vidaza®), a hypomethylating agent, given via intravenous (IV) infusion or by subcutaneous injection
  • Decitabine (Dacogen®), a hypomethylating agent, administered via IV infusion
  • Decitabine and cedazuridine (Inqovi®), a combination of decitabine, a nucleoside metabolic inhibitor, and cedazuridine, a cytidine deaminase inhibitor, given by mouth

For information about the drugs listed on this page, visit Drug Listings.

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