What is Leukemia?
Here are a few different types of leukemia.
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
ALL is cancer of the bone marrow and the blood. ALL is a fast progressing disease and has no clear cause. ALL affects the blood cells and the immune system.
There are three major types which are; B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, and Natural Killer. B lymphocytes, produces antibodies to fight infections. T lymphocytes have several functions including helping the B lymphocytes. Natural killer is very rare but it attacks imperfect cells or tumor cells. ALL develops from early stage lymphocytes in various stages of development; 85% of ALL cases affect the B lymphocytes, 15% affects the T lymphocytes, and ALL rarely affects the natural killer cell. ALL starts in the bone marrow and spreads throughout the body, like the central nervous system, lymph nodes, and rarely the testes. Damaged cells transform into leukemic cells and multiply and are then called leukemic lymphoblasts. These cells make normal cells function wrong, block the normal cell production, and grow and survive better than normal cells. This means there are less healthy cells than normal. ALL has several conditions including anemia, neutropenic, thrombocytopenia, and pancytopenia. The risk factors are high doses of radiation therapy. There are not any obvious reasons for the development of ALL. |
Acute Myeloid LeukemiaAML is a cancer of the bone marrow and the blood. AML progresses rapidly without treatment and affects mostly cells that are not fully developed. Therefore these cells can't carry out their jobs properly. AML may be a difficult disease to treat. Researchers are currently trying to find new and better ways to treat AML.
This disease develops when the DNA of the stem cell in the bone marrrow is damaged, making it an "acquired mutation". This becomes a leukemia blast, which is a damaged cell transformed to a leukemic cell and multiplied, meaning less red and white blood cells in the body. AML has several conditions including anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and pancytopenia. There are also many risks of AML; repeated exposure to penzene, certain genetic disorders, progression of other blood cancers or disorders, past chemotherapy or radiation treatments could have major affects. There are no obvious reasons for the development of the disease. |
Chrcnic Lymphocytic Leukemia
CLL is a blood cancer that begins in the bone marrow. CLL can progress rapidity, or it can progress over an extended time, depending on the form the cell takes. CLL is most common in adults.
The treatment range is very broad, with the treatment most people will have a good quality life for years with medical care. CLL is also an "acquired mutation"; the cell doesn't completely interfere with the growth of the healthy cells. Therefore, CLL is generally less severe than acute leukemia. There are several conditions with this disease like anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and pancytopenia. There are two forms of CLL, which are the slow growing form and fast growing form. Slow growing form has an increased number of lymphocytes and slightly less normal healthy cells. This form can be stable for years. The fast growing form has too many CLL cells that block the normal cell functions. There are less normal healthy cells than there are supposed to be. |
Chronic Myeloid LeukemiaCML is a cancer of the bone marrow and the blood. This disease is usually diagnosed during its chronic phase when the treatment is very affective for most patients. CML is less severe than acute leukemia. CML is an abnormal chromosome called Philadelphia chromosome.
CLL is a result of a translocation between chromosomes 22 and 9. That leads to the cancer causing gene (oncogene) called BCR-ABL gene. BCR-ABL oncogene gives a stem cell instructions to make dysfunctional proteins called BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase leading to the development of CML. There are several conditions to go along with CML which are anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and pancytopenia. There are several risk factors; high doses of radiation and high doses of radiation therapy used to treat other cancers such as lymphoma. |
Hairy Cell Leukemia
HCL is a blood cancer that begins in the bone marrow. HCL gets it name from the thin short projections that look like hair on the cell.
Patients are initially treated with caldribine. The advents of caldribine therapy has resulted in approximately 85% rate of complete remission and approximately 10% rate of patients response. With treatment the patients can live good quality lives for several years. There is a 5 year event-free survival after treatment for almost 90% of patients. CML is an abnormal change in a while blood cell, B lymphocytic, meaning that the cell can no longer do its job of fighting infections. HCL can multiply uncontrollably and crowd out normal healthy cells, resulting in the number of normal healthy blood cells being lower than normal. There are many conditions to go along with HCL which are anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and pancytopenia. |
Chronic Myelomonocytic LeukemiaCMML is an uncommon blood cancer that features two types of other blood cancers.
CMML is considered a clonal mutation in the DNA of the stem cell in the bone marrow, making it multiply uncontrollably. This affects the growth of the normal white blood cells called myeloblasts and myelocytes. Myeloblasts and myelocytes accumulate in the bone marrow and other organs and interfere with normal cell production. If not treated, CMML can lead to low number of red blood cells which causes low oxygen, weakened immune system and a low number of platelets. |
Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia
JMML is an uncommon blood cancer that grows rapidly. There are two different types of blood cancer featured in JMML. It is most common in infants and children 6 years of age or younger.
It is diagnosed in infants at the age of 3 months to 12 months but rarely in newborns. JMML makes up 1.5% of all childhood leukemia cases. JMML is more common in males than females. JMML is an "acquired mutation". It multiplies quickly and crowds out the normal cells. There are several conditions including anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and pancytopenia.The doctors don't know why this disease forms. |
Large Granular Lymphocytic LeukemiaLGL is a type of chronic leukemia that affects the white blood cells called "lymphocytes". Lymphocytes are part of the body's immune system and help fight certain infections.
They are characterized by enlarged lymphocytes, containing noticeable granulars, and can be seen when the blood is under a microscope. There are two types: T-Cell and natural killer (KN-LGL). Each may either be chronic or aggressive. The frequency of T-Cell and NK-LGL leukemia ranges from 2 to 5 precent of chronic lymphoproliferative diseases. LGL leukemia affects both men and women around the age of 60. Less than a quarter of patients are younger than 50. |
Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm
BPDCN, also known as natural killer (NK) cell leukemia and lymphoma, is categorized by the World Health Organization (4th edition, 2008) under AML.
Most often, BPDCN presents with features of both lymphoma and leukemia. There is little data about BPDCN, and there is no established treatment. The average age at diagnosis is 60 to 70 years of age. BPDCN favors men more than women. BPDCN is very often misdiagnosed and under-reported. Diagnosing a patient with BPDCN is difficult. Approximately 80% of cases deal with the skin. BPDCN usually progresses with bone marrow involvement and lowers the number of healthy blood cells. The lymph nodes and spleen may also be involved. Rashes without symptoms can also occur. Common misdiagnoses for BPCDN include non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), AML, leukemia cutis, melanoma, and lupus erythematosus. |