Standard Treatment  Treatment depends on the overall goal at a given point in the course of the disease. Approaches include:

• Palliative  Treatment is intended to control the disease, not necessarily to eradicate it or bring about a 
  remission . This is particularly true when the white blood count rises. At that point, in addition to palliative 
  blood transfusions, the white blood count may be controlled by hydroxyurea , an oral chemotherapy agent. 
  Other agents such as 6-thioguanine and busulfan may also be used. Eventually, in spite of these palliative 
  attempts, the disease will break through. There is no remission or cure for patients on palliative treatment.

• Chemo-modulation  This concept of therapy involves an attempt to "differentiate" the leukemia cells to a
  more normal stage of development in the hopes that they may behave more like normal cells in growth pattern
  and function.
      The treatment commonly involves the use of a standard chemotherapy agent— cytosine arabinoside—in
  low doses given by a 24-hour intravenous infusion or daily injections for 10 to 14 days. This has been
  temporarily helpful in 20 to 30 percent of cases, but the disease eventually progresses.

• Intensive Chemotherapy  When the preleukemic stage becomes similar to an acute leukemia—in other
  words, it becomes a more aggressive form with survival a matter of months—standard therapy is similar to
  that   described for acute leukemia.