Which cancer management modality is most likely to induce remission in newly diagnosed leukemia?

Chemotherapy is considered the primary modality for the management of newly diagnosed leukemia because it targets rapidly dividing cancer cells. Leukemias are primarily characterized by an overproduction of immature white blood cells, which proliferate in the bone marrow and can infiltrate the bloodstream. Chemotherapy utilizes cytotoxic drugs that can effectively kill these fast-growing cells, thus reducing the overall leukemic cell burden in the patient.

The combination of different chemotherapeutic agents can be tailored to target specific types of leukemia, such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia or acute myeloid leukemia, which are most commonly treated initially with chemotherapy. In many cases, chemotherapy can induce remission, meaning the disease becomes inactive, and patients may achieve a state where their blood cell counts return to normal.

Radiation therapy, while a valuable tool in cancer treatment, is generally not the first line for leukemia because it does not specifically target the bone marrow, where leukemia cells proliferate. Immunotherapy is emerging as a promising treatment for some cancers, but it hasn't yet replaced chemotherapy as the frontline treatment for many leukemia cases, especially in newly diagnosed patients. Hormone therapy is not applicable in the treatment of leukemia since it mainly targets cancers that are hormone-sensitive, such as breast or prostate cancer.