Leukemia

There are several types of blood cancers, and leukemia is a significantly common cancer that affects all ages.

Leukemia

Leukemia is a type of blood cancer in which abnormal blood cells grow rapidly. This growth occurs in the bone marrow (which is the most common) and the lymphatic system, and these are the places in which blood is synthesized. Most of these abnormal blood cells are white blood cells.

Leukemia occurs more in adults between the ages of 65 and 74, especially the males.

Types of leukemia

Leukemia is characterized depending on how fast it progresses into:

• Acute leukemia: the abnormal blood cells grow rapidly.
• Chronic leukemia: either normal blood cells grow slowly or abnormal blood cells grow rapidly, and in general, in this type there are more normal cells than the acute one.

Leukemia is also characterized depending on the type of the affected white cells into:

• Lymphocytic leukemia: it affects the lymphoid cells, which are an essential part of the immune system.
• Myelogenous leukemia: it affects the myeloid cells, which they normally develop into white cells, red cells, and platelets.

Therefore, there are four types of leukemia:

• Acute lymphocytic leukemia: it’s the most common type in children, teens, and young adults until the age of 39.
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia: it’s the most common chronic type in adults (especially after 65 years old).
• Acute myelogenous leukemia: it’s the most common acute type in adults (especially after 65 years old).
• Chronic myelogenous leukemia: it’s more common in adults (older than 65 years old), and it rarely affects children.

Causes and risk factors leading to leukemia

There isn’t a specific cause for leukemia, but it’s thought that it occurs due to a genetic mutation in a cell in the bone marrow.

The risk factors include the following:

• Previous cancer treatments.
• The exposure to some chemicals.
• Smoking.
• A family history.
• Some genetic disorders.

Symptoms of leukemia

The symptoms depend on the leukemia type, and there might be no symptoms at all in the early stages of the disease. Sometimes, the patient stays years without symptoms and the disease is discovered by chance. Common symptoms include the following:

• Fever, chills, or night sweats.
• Fatigue and rapid tiredness.
• Unintentional weight loss.
• Recurrent infections, which sometimes might be severe.
• Pale skin.
• Shortness of breath.
• Swollen lymph nodes in the neck, underarm, groin, or stomach, in addition to an enlarged liver or spleen.
• Bone and joint pain.
• Bruises and petechiae (red spots on the skin).
• Bleeding easily, such as nosebleed and gumbleed.

Diagnosis of leukemia

• Physical examination.
• Complete blood count (CBC).
• Blood cell examination.
• Bone marrow biopsy.
• Imaging tests.
• Lumbar puncture.

Treatment of leukemia

There isn’t a cure that ensures that the leukemia can be cured completely, and the leukemia treatment depends on the type and the patient’s condition. The treatments include the following:

• Chemotherapy.
• Radiation therapy.
• Targeted therapy.
• Immunotherapy.
• Bone marrow transplant.
• Other treatments.