All About Leukemia

The bone marrow produce blood cells, which are actually derived from hematopoietic cells called stem cells. The distinct feature of stem cells is its ability to regenerate over time. It is present in all stages of the body’s development – from the fusion of an egg and sperm cell to the development of organs and tissues.

Stem cells are categorized according to its potency – or the potential to differentiate (transform) to different cell types. A stem cell may be totipotent, pluripotent, multipotent or unipotent.

Totipotent stem cells form from the fusion of the egg and sperm cells, and differentiate into embryonic and extraembryonic cell types. These develop into a fetus.

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Biological Therapy

Depending on the substance used, the side effects for this treatment is deifferent for every patient. Rashes may develop, or swelling where the biological therapy is injected may develop.

Radiation Therapy

The result of this treatment is tiredness, so sufficient rest and regular physical activity is advised. The treated area becomes red, dry and tender – this is a usual occurrence.

Stem Cell Transplantation

Patients that undergo this transplantation still go through chemotherapy and radiation therapy, exposing them to more risk of bleeding, infection and other side effects. Graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) may also be experienced by a patient that has received bone marrow stem cell from a donor. The stem cells react against the patient’s tissues, potentially affecting the liver, skin or digestive tract. Get to know more about bone marrow and stem cell transplantation here.

Blood clotting is essential for the body’s healing. Wounds, cuts and bruises will not heal without platelets. Also called thrombocytes, it seals off damaged blood vessels to avoid blood loss. Low levels of platelets causes excessive bleeding or hemorrhage.

Platelets are actually not true cells. These develop from a leukocyte called megakaryocytes. While red and white blood cells specifically identifies its color, platelets appear purplish when examined with a microscope.

Platelet levels is decreased when a person takes certain oral medications such as aspirin. Chemotherapy may also cause reduced count and platelet dysfunction. Such dysfunction play a role in development of cancer.

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Monocytes are lymphoid cells that move through the walls of blood vessels and consume foreign substances. Monocytes move to tissues when it detects an inflammation, and initiates immune system response.

Lymphocytes produce antibodies that fight harmful microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and protista. Lymphocytes have different types that work together to recognize harmful microorganisms, activate the immune system, and “keep a record” of all types of infections encountered by the body. When the same infection occurs, a ready set of antibodies are available to effectively fight the infection. When development and production of lymphocytes is suppressed, it may result to chronic lymphocytic leukemia or acute lymphocytic leukemia.

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The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society also encourages the general public to support cancer advocacy by being part of its advocacy program and giving donations to fund research and patient treatments. Volunteers also lobby in Congress to urge legislators to come up with policies that will help improve services to patients and give them the right to care in a clinical trial, encourage collaboration between private and public researches, and increase funding for biomedical research.

The organization is not funded by the government, and it raises funds through donations, fund raising activities, partnering with corporations, and by retailing products for brands that support the society.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is a voluntary health organization which aims to fund blood cancer research, education, and patient services. Its mission statement is: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families”.

Their website provides information about how to cope with the disease from the time one is diagnosed, where to find support for the patients and their families, financial support to ensure the patient gets treatment, the latest developments on available treatments and experiments. The organization encourages scientists and medical professionals to pursue further education and research to fight and treat blood cancers.

The most common type of leukemia that occurs in infants is Acute Lymphoid Leukemia or ALL. It is a disease of the bone marrow, where the diseased blood cells take the place of normal bone marrow. Eighty percent of children with leukemia have ALL. Common symptoms are persistent fevers, frequent infections, weakness, joint and bone pain, paleness and bleeding. The cause of ALL is still unknown, but it has been shown that there are changes chromosomes of malignant cells.

In the past, infants underwent prolonged therapy, up to two and a half years, but 60 to 80 percent had relapsed after treatment. Pediatric oncologist since then changed the approach to a more intensified therapy at a short period of 46 weeks. With this approach, patients no longer had relapses after 6 to 9 months after treatment, and most of the cured patients did not show long term side effects.

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Also known as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), bone marrow transplant is actually the transfer of stem cells from the bone marrow of a healthy donor to a sick patient, usually one who has multiple myeloma and leukemia, who may no longer benefit from radiation and chemotherapy. Although it is also experimentally being done for other conditions such as immune-related disease and cardiovascular disease, which have not yet gained wide acceptance. Other diseases treated with bone marrow transplant are those with sickle cell disease, myelodysplastic syndrome, neuroblastoma, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, Ewing’s Sarcoma and Desmoplastic small round cell tumor. Developments in bone marrow transplant has enabled elderly and weak patients to undergo the treatment.

Blood cells have several kinds, each of which are essential for a body to function properly. These are the erythrocytes or red blood cells, leukocytes or white blood cells, and platelets.

Erythrocytes contain hemoglobin, which is the substance that transports oxygen to the different parts of the body. This is why a person with anemia experiences shortness of breath and fatigue, because the vital organs do not get enough oxygen.

Leukocytes fight infections in the body. It has sub-types: granulocytes that develop to neutrophils, basophils, and eosinophils which destroy bacteria and fight infections; and lympoid cells that develop to monocytes and lymphocytes.

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Until now, the cause of leukemia is not clear. Development seems to be affected by both genetic and environmental factors.

Acute leukemia is caused by white blood cells that have a lost or damaged DNA sequence that remain immature. These cells multiply but do not mature and die, so it accumulates and begins to affect the vital organs and the production of healthy cells.

Chronic leukemia, on the other hand, are caused by more mature blood cells that replicate and accumulate more slowly, making the disease undetectable in the beginning. Eventually, more abnormal white blood cells are produced which leads to infection and bleeding, and ultimately result to death.