Leukemia is a type of cancer of the blood cells. It starts when cells in the bone marrow become leukemia cells. Over time, these cells crowd out the healthy blood cells in your blood, bone marrow, and other tissues. There are many different kinds of leukemia. The type of treatment you receive depends on the type of leukemia you have.
Leukemia is usually treated with medicines, such as chemotherapy. In some cases other treatments, such as radiation therapy or a stem cell transplant, may be needed. Targeted therapy and immunotherapy are also used to treat leukemia. Your doctor will talk to you about what type of leukemia you have and what kinds of treatment may be best for you.
Leukemia is a type of cancer that happens when cells in your bone marrow become leukemia cells. Over time, these cells crowd out the healthy blood cells in your blood, bone marrow, and other tissues.
There are four main types of leukemia: acute lymphoblastic (ALL), acute myeloid (AML), chronic lymphocytic (CLL), and chronic myeloid (CML). The acute types can get worse quickly and need to be treated right away. The chronic types get worse slowly and may not need to be treated until you have symptoms.
Your bone marrow is where stem cells grow. These stem cells become white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets.
In most cases of leukemia, there are too many abnormal white blood cells. These leukemia cells crowd out the normal blood cells in your bone marrow and build up in your lymph nodes, liver, and spleen.
When the leukemia cells crowd out your normal cells, your blood can't do its job. You may bleed or bruise easily, have more infections, and feel very tired.
Leukemia can go away. People sometimes call this a "cure." But your doctor may use the term "remission" instead of "cure" when talking about the effectiveness of your treatment. Many people who have leukemia are successfully treated, but the term remission is used because cancer can return (recur). It is important to discuss the possibility of recurrence with your doctor.
Symptoms of acute leukemia depend on how much the cancer has grown. They may include:
The chronic forms of leukemia often cause no symptoms until much later in the disease. And when symptoms appear, they usually appear gradually.
There are several different types of leukemia. In general, leukemia is grouped by how fast it gets worse and what kind of white blood cell it affects.
Treatment for leukemia is based on the type of leukemia and whether it has spread. It's also based on other things, such as your overall health. Treatment options may include chemotherapy and other medicines, radiation therapy, stem cell transplant, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy.
There is no known way to prevent most types of leukemia.
Some types of leukemia may be prevented by avoiding high doses of radiation, exposure to the chemical benzene, smoking and other tobacco use, or certain types of chemotherapy used to treat other types of cancer.
If leukemia is suspected, your doctor may:
If your blood work points to possible leukemia, your doctor will want to find out what kind you might have. Your treatment plan will depend on the specific kind of leukemia that you have.
These tests can help guide treatment. Sometimes they can help your doctor and you know whether your leukemia is likely to go into remission or come back. In some cases, the tests can predict survival rates.
Your doctor may also order other tests, including:
Health professionals who can evaluate symptoms of leukemia include the following:
The diagnosis of leukemia will be done by a medical oncologist, pediatric oncologist, or hematologist. These specialists also treat leukemia.
Some things can increase your chances of getting leukemia. These things are called risk factors. But many people who get leukemia don't have any of these risk factors. And some people who have risk factors don't get this cancer.
Leukemia is cancer of the blood cells. It starts in the bone marrow, the soft tissue inside most bones. Bone marrow is where blood cells are made.
Experts don't know what causes leukemia in most people. But they think that most leukemia happens because of things in the environment and in a person's genes.
Some things may increase the risk, such as having certain genetic conditions or being exposed to large amounts of radiation or certain chemicals.
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