Definition of leukemia
Other types of leukemia include leukemia and leukemia, usually in white blood cells. Leukemia is a cancer of the tissues responsible for the production of blood cells, including the lymphatic system and bone marrow.
The blood cells of the white blood cells fight infection and the resulting different pollutants, and grow these pellets are generally correct, as they are divided according to the need of the body, and produces bone marrow a large amount of white blood cells are not healthy, So that it does not function properly.
Some people feel anxiety, anxiety and tension while receiving the news of their diagnosis of leukemia, but it is a disease that can be treated in the case of early diagnosis and follow-up, but the treatment is a complex treatment of different types, and not be in the form of clear blocks to be removed , As well as the rapid spread of the body.
Classification of leukemia
Blood cancer is classified according to the speed of its progression and the quality of the infected cells as follows:
- Depending on the pace of progress : Classification of this disease depends on the pace of its progression, and is divided into:
- Acute leukemia: The blood cells at this stage are undeveloped and still at the beginning, while these cells do not have the ability to function, and these cells are divided at maximum speed, so the disease develops very quickly, and requires this type of treatment is strong and strong, and on Patients start treatment immediately.
- Chronic leukemia: It is a cancer that builds itself slowly and chronically, so it stays hidden for long periods without any symptoms on the person, until it is collected so that the symptoms begin to appear as in acute cancer.
- Depending on the type of infected cells : The second classification is based on the type of blood cells infected, where the bone marrow consists of several different types of stem cells producing all types of blood cells, including white lymphocytes (B cells, T), which produces distinct cells that differentiate The blood cells (white, red, and platelets) are then classified as follows:
- Lymphocytic leukemia: This type attacks the lymphocytes in the bone marrow.
- Pancreatic Bladder: This type attacks the cells in the bone marrow.
Treatment of leukemia
This cancer is completely different from other types of cancers, where the doctor can not remove the cancer tumor and direct treatment or surgery, so scientists consider it a complex disease types and not easy to treat, and this depends on several factors and the most important type of disease and its prevalence in the body , Patient age, and patient’s health status.
Acute leukemia needs to be treated immediately. Acute leukemia is intended to inhibit and stop cancerous growth. When symptoms stop and there is no evidence of disease, treatment may last longer to prevent recurrence. This type of cancer is treatable and cured. Full of them.
Patients with chronic leukemia who do not have symptoms yet may not require immediate treatment. However, repeated tests should be performed so that the doctor knows how the disease is going and develops. When symptoms begin, treatment begins to control the disease and its symptoms, but it is very rare to recover from this type Of cancers.
Most patients with leukemia are treated with chemotherapy, which is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells based on the type of leukemia. The patient may receive one drug or a combination of two or more medications. Other treatments, such as bone marrow transplantation, (BMT), radiation therapy and biologic therapy, and in some cases, an operation to remove the spleen may be part of the treatment plan.
chemotherapy
Antiviral drugs are given intravenously or taken orally to enter the bloodstream and affect cancer cells in most parts of the body. However, these drugs often do not reach cells in the central nervous system because they are stopped at the brain blood barrier (BBB) This is a protective barrier consisting of a network of blood vessels that filter blood to the brain and spinal cord – and to access cancer cells in the central nervous system, doctors use intramuscular injection. In this type of treatment, anti-cancer drugs are injected directly into the cerebrospinal fluid .
In some cases, the patient may take these out-of-hospital treatments as outpatient clinics in the hospital, at the doctor’s office, or at home, depending on the type of medication and the patient’s condition And radiotherapy is used in conjunction with chemotherapy for some types of leukemia. High energy rays destroy cancer cells and prevent them from growing.
Radiation therapy
Radiotherapy can be given to blood cancer in two ways: first, the doctor directs the radiation to a specific area of the body where a group of leukemia cells, such as the spleen or testicles, is present and the other radiation is directed to the whole body.
Biological therapy
Biological therapy is a form of treatment based on leukemia that affects the response of the immune system to cancer. Interferon is a form of biological therapy that is used against some types of leukemia.
Cultivation of stem cells
Some patients with leukemia may resort to stem cell transplantation, allowing leukemia patients to deal with high doses of drugs, radiation, or both, where high doses destroy the leukemia cells and normal blood cells in the bone marrow, and then the patient receives healthy stem cells through A flexible tube placed in one of the veins is large in the neck or chest area, producing new blood cells from these stem cells.
Symptoms of leukemia
Symptoms of this disease vary according to the type of leukemia, however there are common symptoms, including:
- Weight loss with anorexia to eat.
- Frequent fatigue, and debilitation.
- Trembling or fever.
- Repeat the infection in the patient.
- Sudden bloating of the lymph nodes, and swelling in the spleen or liver.
- Signs of bruising, or bleeding.
- Feeling shortness of breath during physical exertion, or climbing stairs.
- Topical bleeding through the appearance of red spots on the skin.
- The abundance of sweat, especially at night.
- Feeling pain, and feeling of bone.
- Many of us may overlook these symptoms, in the belief that they are symptoms of influenza or another disease similar to symptoms of leukemia, and the severity of the symptoms relate to the amount of abnormal white blood cells and their location.
Causes of leukemia
In fact, leukemia is a hidden disease, and so far scientists have not found a real cause of the disease, but the disease appears to multiply and develop, due to genetic factors with environmental factors.
Acute leukemia is caused by irritability and irregularity within a cell or group of white blood cells, as it loses DNA sequence, so that these cells do not develop or differentiate at all, but obstruct and block the work of healthy cells accumulating, and thus abort Production process for healthy cells.
Chronic leukemia attacks advanced cells, as they proliferate slowly, so the patient does not feel the symptoms of the disease until late, but unfortunately it is a fatal disease, and the mechanism of work is still unknown to specialists.
In the end, this causes the lack of healthy cells and disruption of their work and thus increase the incidence of the disease and excessive bleeding, anemia, and spread the disease in the body organs, leading to death and usually due to loss of blood or exposure to infection.
Diagnosis of leukemia
Usually, the cases of the disease are diagnosed by chance during the routine blood test before any symptoms appear on the patient. In case of symptoms, the patient undergoes a number of tests, including:
- Blood tests.
- Physical examinations.
- Assays to be cells.
- Bone Marrow Tests.
- Examination of immunologic phenotype.
- It is possible to perform a number of different tests to confirm the diagnosis of the patient’s condition and determine the type and extent of leukemia, the types of this disease are classified in levels according to the severity of the risk and spread of the disease, and this identification and classification of the type of disease helps the doctor to determine the appropriate treatment program for leukemia in the body.
Risk factors
There are several factors that increase the incidence of some types of leukemia, namely:
- Genetics : Some genetic factors, may affect negatively and work on the emergence of the disease, it was discovered that some genetic diseases interact and raise the problem of disease, such as Down syndrome, increasing the likelihood of infection.
- Treatment of cancer : Some people who have been treated chemically or by radiotherapy for other cancers are more likely to develop leukemia after several years of treatment.
- Exposure to radiation or certain chemicals : Some people are exposed to a severe level of serious radiation, such as those who survived atomic explosions and nuclear reactors in war, they are very vulnerable to exposure, or exposure to chemicals from tobacco smoke, fuel and others, and raises the risk of infection.
- Generally, not everyone exposed to those risks is infected, and not everyone infected has the same risk.