Leukemia: Bone Marrow and Treatment
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia (Greek leukos λευκός, "white"; aima αίμα, "blood") is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation (production by multiplication) of blood cells, usually white blood cells (leukocytes). It is part of the broad group of diseases called hematological neoplasms.
Contents
* 1 Symptoms * 2 Four major types * 3 Causes and risk factors * 4 Treatment options for leukemia by type o 4.1 Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) + 4.1.1 Initial treatment of AML + 4.1.2 Follow-up treatment + 4.1.3 Consolidation or maintenance therapy o 4.2 Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) o 4.3 Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) o 4.4 Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) + 4.4.1 Transformation of CLL to high-grade disease or aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma + 4.4.2 Chemotherapy for CLL o 4.5 Hairy Cell Leukemia (HCL) * 5 Research * 6 Incidence * 7 External links
Symptoms
Damage to the bone marrow, by way of displacing the normal bone marrow cells with higher numbers of immature white blood cells, results in a lack of blood platelets, which are important in the blood clotting process. This means people with leukemia may become bruised, bleed excessively, or develop pinprick bleeds (petechiae).
White blood cells, which are involved in fighting pathogens, may be suppressed or dysfunctional. This could cause the patient's immune system to be unable to fight off a simple infection or to start attacking other body cells.
Finally, the red blood cell deficiency leads to anemia, which may cause dyspnea. All symptoms can be attributed to other diseases; for diagnosis, blood tests and a bone marrow examination are required.
Some other related symptoms:
* Fever, chills, night sweats and other flu-like symptoms * Weakness and fatigue
Leukemia or leukaemia (Greek leukos λευκός, "white"; aima αίμα, "blood") is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation (production by multiplication) of blood cells, usually white blood cells (leukocytes). It is part of the broad group of diseases called hematological neoplasms.
Contents
* 1 Symptoms * 2 Four major types * 3 Causes and risk factors * 4 Treatment options for leukemia by type o 4.1 Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) + 4.1.1 Initial treatment of AML + 4.1.2 Follow-up treatment + 4.1.3 Consolidation or maintenance therapy o 4.2 Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) o 4.3 Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) o 4.4 Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) + 4.4.1 Transformation of CLL to high-grade disease or aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma + 4.4.2 Chemotherapy for CLL o 4.5 Hairy Cell Leukemia (HCL) * 5 Research * 6 Incidence * 7 External links
Symptoms
Damage to the bone marrow, by way of displacing the normal bone marrow cells with higher numbers of immature white blood cells, results in a lack of blood platelets, which are important in the blood clotting process. This means people with leukemia may become bruised, bleed excessively, or develop pinprick bleeds (petechiae).
White blood cells, which are involved in fighting pathogens, may be suppressed or dysfunctional. This could cause the patient's immune system to be unable to fight off a simple infection or to start attacking other body cells.
Finally, the red blood cell deficiency leads to anemia, which may cause dyspnea. All symptoms can be attributed to other diseases; for diagnosis, blood tests and a bone marrow examination are required.
Some other related symptoms:
* Fever, chills, night sweats and other flu-like symptoms * Weakness and fatigue