Leukemia is a cancer of blood cells or bone marrow resulting in an increase in a number of abnormal leukocytes. Bone marrow is the site of the body where many different types of blood cells are produced. But the problem may occur if there is a production of abnormal blood cells especially the leukocytes. These leukocytes are incompletely developed and called leukemia cells.It is a malignant disease in which bone marrow and other blood-forming organs produce an increased number of immature or abnormal white blood cells. This non-functional production of normal blood cells is restrained that leads to anemia and other related symptoms.
Types of Leukemia
There are two types of leukemia: acute and chronic. Acute leukemia tends to occur rapidly and often gets worse within a small period of time. Mostly children under 16 are affected. However, chances of being in an adult are also significant. Somehow, in rare cases, it can also be terminal.
Age
Two types of people are most likely to get affected with blood cancer. One is those who fall above the age of 50s and secondly the children under the age of 16. But there are ways of treating and controlling the disease and its symptoms.
Etiology
There are various causes of leukemia but most widespread known cause discovered by doctors and scientists is the Gene or DNA mutation. Leukemia can be due to congenital disorder or DNA mutation that can occur at any age. DNA mutation may result in the production of immature and abnormal white blood cells. This causes the blood cells to divide continuously. In healthy individuals, normal blood cells die after a specific period of time and are replaced by new cells produced in the bone marrow. The abnormal blood cells do not die when they should. They are accumulated, therefore occupy more space. These blood cells are now called cancerous cells because they are now damaging your body. As excessive cancer cells are being produced, they affect the healthy blood cells normal functioning.
Risk Factors
There may be many risk factors of developing leukemia including ionizing radiation, viruses such as HIV, some hair drying pigments, few chemotherapy agents, benzene and other petrochemicals. On the other hand, there are many other genetic or congenital diseases as well. It has been anticipated that disclosure to electromagnetic energy might be linked to leukemia, but there is no solid evidence to support this anticipation.
Signs & Symptoms
The symptoms of leukemia may be very subtle initially and include fatigue and unexplained fever which people normally don’t consider a big thing.Early symptoms of leukemia include
Fatigue
Repeated infections,
Weight loss
Bleeding problems
Drenching night sweats
Itchy skin
Lumps on different parts of the body
Bone or joint pain
Diagnostic Tests
Making an accurate diagnosis of the leukemia is vital in deciding the best treatment plans. Diagnosis often begins with a complete blood count and peripheral smear. Moreover, bone marrow and biopsy is also required to complete the diagnosis of leukemia. After that additional tests are performed to look for surface markers on the cells such as flow Cytometry and Cytogenetic testing. Cytogenetic involves the study of chromosomes of cancerous cells under the microscope to look for the abnormalities where the chromosomal translocations are very common. With some types of leukemia, Spinal tap or lymph node biopsy may be required. For this, bone marrow is usually taken from the hips with the help of a long fine needle. It will help you to detect the kind of leukemia. X-ray and CT ( Computed Tomography may not give much information but somehow enlarged lymph nodes can be visualized on scans.
Treatment Plans
There are various types of leukemia that distress the lives of people in different ways. Treatment options generally depend on the type of leukemia, the persons’ age and an overall state of well being. The treatment plan and progress also depends on the type and stage of cancer. Some types of leukemia grow gradually and don’t need urgent treatment plans. Progress in medicine simply means that the treatment can now aim for complete remission of the disease. This way cancer goes away completely for at least 5 years after dedicated treatment plan. Leukemia is generally treated by a hematologist-oncologist. These experts specialize in both congenital and acquired blood disorders treatments. Depending on each type of leukemia, patient age, gender, stage, and overall health there are different types of treatment plans. List of treatment plans for blood cancer mainly includes chemotherapy, biological therapy or immunotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation therapy, and stem cell transplant. Combination of these various treatments may be used according to the patient’s age, physical condition, and type of leukemia. Surgical removal of the spleen is also performed if the spleen is enlarged in this disease.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is usually recommended for acute leukemia, where remission is the immediate goal of treatment. Depending on the type of leukemia, the patient may either need a single drug or a combination of different drugs. The patient receives chemotherapy in a hospital and then admitted in a private room to reduce the chances of hospital-acquired infections. Acute leukemia causes extremely low counts of healthy blood cells in patients. Therefore patients are given blood and platelet transfusions to fight against bleeding disorders. They undergo antibiotics treatments to avoid infections. Specific medications are also started to manage treatment-related side effects.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy basically comprises of high-energy radiations to kill abnormal and immature leukemia cells and control their growth. Radiations can be applied to a specific area or to the entire body of a patient. It is most often used to prevent leukemia from spreading to other parts of the body. If cancer has already spread to the whole body radiation therapy can help to control and treat it. It is also used to prepare the bone marrow before stem cell transplant.
Stem Cell Transplant
Stem cell transplant is another successfully being practiced procedure for cancer patients. However, it is mostly recommended under 55 years of age for maximum efficient results. It replaces the diseased bone marrow with a healthy bone marrow by using either patient’s (autologous transplantation) or donor cells (analogous transplantation). This procedure is termed as bone marrow transplant.
Biological or Immune Therapy
Immune therapy includes treatment that boosts the patient’s immune system to recognize and attack cancerous cells. It is also called biological therapy. Side effects of biological therapies tend to be less severe than those of chemotherapy.
Targeted Therapy
Targeted cancer therapies are also referred to as molecularly targeted drugs or molecularly targeted therapies. Targeted therapy uses medications that take advantage of vulnerabilities in cancer cells. For example, imatinib is a targeted drug that is commonly used against chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). With targeted therapy, there is minimal damage to healthy cells than with chemotherapy. It may help cease the growth of target cells instead of killing them. Supportive treatments are needed to help prevent the complications of previously mentioned treatments which mainly include increased risk of bleeding and infections. Few types of supportive treatments are vaccines, platelet transfusions, anti-nausea medications, antibiotics, antiviral medications, and WBC growth stimulators. Intravenous injections of immunoglobulin are also given to help fight infections.
