What is leukemia?
Leukemia is the rapid growth of abnormal blood cells in your bone marrow, where most of your body’s blood is made. Unlike other cancers, leukemia doesn’t typically form a tumor that shows up on imaging tests. These leukemia cells begin to take over the space inside your bone marrow, crowding out healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. As a result, your body’s organs and tissues won’t get the oxygen needed to function properly.
There are four main types of leukemia, classified on how quickly it progresses, and the type of blood cell involved:
By speed of disease progression
- Acute lymphocytic leukemia – A life-threatening form of leukemia in which cells divide rapidly, and the disease progresses quickly. Acute leukemia is the most common cancer in children.
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia – These leukemia cells behave as both immature and mature blood cells and worsens slowly compared to acute leukemia. More common an adults.
By cell type
- Chronic myelogenous leukemia – More common in adults but can affect adults of any age. Symptoms may not appear for several years.
What are causes and risk factors of leukemia?
Leukemia starts when the DNA of a single cell in your bone marrow mutates. Because of this, the leukemia cells continue multiplying, carrying the mutated DNA.
Anyone can develop leukemia, but there are certain risk factors that increase your risk:
- Previous cancer treatment
- Smoking
- Exposure to industrial chemicals
- Certain genetic disorders, such as Down syndrome and neurofibromatosis
- Family history of leukemia
What are symptoms of leukemia?
Symptoms will vary depending on the type of leukemia, but the most common symptoms include:
- Fatigue
- Fever or night sweats
- Frequent infections
- Shortness of breath
- Pale skin
- Unexplained weight loss
- Bone/join pain or tenderness
- Pain under your ribs on the left side
- Swollen lymph nodes in your neck, underarm, groin or stomach
- Bruising and bleeding easily
How is leukemia diagnosed?
Sometimes, leukemia is discovered during a routine blood work for another condition. Other times, exhibiting common symptoms of leukemia can lead to the following tests:
- Physical examination
- Complete blood count
- Blood cell examination
- Bone marrow biopsy
- Imaging tests
What are treatment options for leukemia?
Treatment will depend on the type of leukemia you have, how far the cancer has spread within your body, as well as your age and overall health. The first phase, induction therapy, aims to kill as many leukemia cells as possible in your blood and bone marrow to achieve remission. The second phase, consolidation, aims to kill any remaining undetected leukemia cells so the cancer doesn’t return. The third phase, maintenance therapy, aims to kill any leukemia cells that may have survived the first two phases and prevent the cancer from returning.
The most common forms of treatment include:
- Chemotherapy
- Immunotherapy
- Targeted therapy
- Radiation therapy
- Stem cell or bone marrow transplant
- T-cell therapy
What is the outlook on leukemia?
There is not a cure for leukemia, but long-term remission is possible. The outlook for leukemia will be different for each person and will depend on a variety of factors, including:
- Genetic mutations
- Type of leukemia
- Blood cell count at the time of diagnosis
- Age
- Health
- Response to treatment
- Presence of leukemia cells in your central nervous system
If you have questions about leukemia or would like to schedule an appointment, contact our Hematology Oncology department at 515.875.9850.