Leukemia or blood cancer is commonly found in people, who are exposed to high levels of radiation and chemicals. This disease includes generation of the abnormal production of white blood cells. These cells are referred to as leukemia cells. Initially, they behave normally, but gradually they begin to overpower normal white blood cells that fight infections, red blood cells that carry oxygen to body organs and the platelets that enable blood clotting. The disease may be acute or chronic and may affect the lymphoid cells or myeloid cells.

Types of leukemia

In chronic leukemia cancerous cells develop from mature abnormal cells that grow very slowly. They outlast the normal cells and accumulate in the blood. In Acute leukemia the malignant cancer cells develop from ‘blasts’ which are young cells that divide fast. These cells unlike their normal versions don’t stop dividing. This way they crowd out normal cells and collect in the blood.

When leukemia affects the myeloid cells of the bone marrow it is called mylogenous leukemia. It can be acute (Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)) or chronic (Chronic Myelogenous leukemia (CML)) in nature.Lymphocytic leukemia develops from the lymphocyte cells or lymphoblast in the blood. Its chronic form is Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) and acute form is called Acute Lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).

AML has subtypes like undifferentiated AML, myeloblastic leukemia, promyelocytic leukemia (APL), myelomonocytic leukemia, monocytic leukemia, erythroleukemia that affects red blood cells and megakaryoblastic leukemia where the cancer cells look like large cells of the bone marrow or megakaryocytes.CML can be classified as chronic phase(patient has less than 5%lymphoblasts), accelerated phase(5-30%lymphoblasts) and blast phase(above 30% lymphoblasts).

ALL is classified as L1 (with mature lymphoblasts), L2 (immature lymphoblasts) and L3 (uniform, large lymphoblasts).CLL is classified on basis of prognosis under Rai or Binet staging systems.

Symptoms

Patients with leukemia display symptoms like high fever, frequent infections, night sweats, fatigue, headaches, bleeding gums, red spots and purple patches on the skin, bone and joint pain. Other Symptoms include enlarged spleen causing swelling in the stomach, swollen lymph nodes on the armpits and neck and weight loss.

Treatment

• Chemotherapy kills leukemia cells through application of drugs in form of injections into the vein, spine or cerebrospinal fluid.
• Biological therapy involves injections to improve the body’s natural immunity towards cancer.
• Radiation therapy uses high energy rays to kill cancer cells.
• Stem- cell transplantation is a treatment where first high doses of radiation or drugs are administered. Since this kills normal blood cells along with cancer cells healthy stem-cells of a donor are transplanted to the patient’s body.

Side Effects of Treatment for Leukemia

• Chemotherapy causes hair loss, stomach disorders, infections and quick bleeding.
• Biological therapy causes rashes, anemia and flu.
• Radiation therapy causes weakness and reddishness on the skin.
• Stem cell transplantation can cause infections, bleeding and Graft-versus-host-disease where the donor’s cells react adversely with the patient’s cells.

Post treatment follow up health care is a must. Regular checkups, positive thinking and a nutritive diet will go a long way towards helping Leukemia patients to live with this disease.