Leukemia is cancer affecting the blood and the bone marrow. It can begin in the cell of the bone marrow continuing to grow better than the normal cells and can crowd or suppress the development of healthy cells. There are several types of leukemia, some more common among the children, the others occurring in adults and are based on the type of blood cell that develops as cancer. The four main types of leukemia include the acute lymphoblastic leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia. The acute leukemia is cancer that grows quickly and chronic leukemia progresses slowly over time.
Causes
The exact cause of leukemia is not known. The type of leukemia is based on how the cancer cells replace the normal marrow and the blood cells. If cancer develops in the type of marrow cells that produce the lymphocytes, it is known as lymphocytic and when the cellular changes occur in the type of marrow cells that form the red cells, white cells and platelets – it is known as myeloid.
Symptoms
The symptoms are based on the type of leukemia. Some of the common symptoms of leukemia include recurrent nosebleeds, fever, fatigue or weakness, frequent severe infections, development of small red spots on the skin, bone pain, excessive sweating at night, easy bleeding and bruising. Additional symptoms can include weight loss, shortness of breath with physical activity, slow healing of cuts, low white cell counts and swollen lymph nodes. The initial symptoms of leukemia can be overlooked at times as they can resemble symptoms of flu.
Diagnosis
In some of the cases, chronic leukemia may become evident with the routine blood test. Additional tests can include physical examination that seeks to identify signs of leukemia such as enlargement of the liver or spleen and swelling of the lymph nodes. A complete blood count (CBC) can also diagnose leukemia that can detect the leukemia cells in the blood. The blood test can also identify the low platelet counts and red cell counts. A complete blood exam along with other tests may be necessary to determine the type of leukemia. The bone marrow biopsy uses a procedure to remove a sample of the bone marrow that can detect the leukemia cells.
Treatment
The treatment involves a specialist known as hematologist/oncologist who can treat leukemia. The treatment depends on the type of leukemia, the age of the individual, their overall health and whether cancer has spread. Some of the common treatments used for leukemia include chemotherapy that uses drugs to destroy the leukemia cells, targeted therapy includes drugs to destroy specific actions of cancer cells that can control the disease and radiation therapy involves the high beamed energy to destroy leukemia cells thereby controlling their growth. Stem cell transplant is optional for some of the cases where the diseased bone marrow is replaced with the healthy bone marrow from a donor.
References
https://www.cancer.gov/types/leukemia
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/leukemia/basics/treatment/con-20024914
http://www.lls.org/sites/default/files/file_assets/PS70_UnderstandingLeukemia_Eng_4_15reprint.pdf
