• Leukemia is a cancer of blood forming tissue including bone marrow

• Leukemia usually involve the WBC

• WBC is a vital part of your immune system. They protect body from

  • Bacteria

  • Virus

  • Fungi

  • Abnormal cell

  • Foreign substance

• Leukemia can spread other part of the body including

  • Lungs

  • Hearts

  • Kidney

  • Testicles

  • Gastrointestinal tract

Symptoms

• Symptoms in leukemia include

  • Fever or chills

  • Severe infection

  • Weight loss

  • Swallen lymph node

  • Sweating

  • Bone pain

  • Loss of muscle control

  • fatigue

Cause

• Exact cause of leukemia is not clear, some reasons for leukemia are

• Leukemia occur when some blood cell acquire change in their genetic material or DNA

• Previous chemotherapy or radiation for other types of cancer

• Genetic disorder like down syndrome

• Blood cancer disorder

Types

It is classified into four main types based on how quickly it progresses (acute or chronic) and the type of white blood cell affected (lymphoid or myeloid).

A. Acute leukemia: Acute leukemia is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow.

It is Characterized by the rapid and uncontrolled production of immature white blood cells (WBC). These abnormal cells deposit quickly with normal blood cells and interfering with their function.

Acute leukemia progresses rapidly and requires prompt treatment.

There are two main types:

• Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL):

• Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML):

B. Chronic leukemia: Characterized by the over production of abnormal white blood cells (WBC) in the bone marrow. acute leukemia which progresses rapidly, chronic leukemia can take years to develop noticeable symptoms.

It is categorized into two main types:

• Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)

• Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML)

1. Acute lymphocytic leukemia(ALL):

   • A rapidly progressing form of leukemia that affects lymphoid cells

   • This is the most common type of leukemia in young children.

   • ALL occur in children and affect adult also.

2. Acute myelogenous leukemia(AML):

   • AML is a common type of leukemia that affects myeloid cells, which develop into different types of blood cells like red blood cells(RBC), white blood cells(WBC), and platelets.\

   • it also known as fast growing leukemia

   • It occur in children and adults

   • AML is the most common types of acute leukemia in adult

3. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia(CLL):

   • A slow-growing form of leukemia that affects lymphoid cells.

   • Common in people over age 50.

4. Chronic myeloid leukemia(CML):

   • Chronic myeloid leukemia affect myeloid cell commonly

   • In CML patient have no symptoms for month to year.

   • Mostly affect adult

Risk Factor

• Factor that may increase the risk of developing some type of leukemia include.

  • family history of leukemia

  • Smoking

  • Genetic disorder such as down syndrome

  • Blood disorder such as myelodysplastic syndrome

  • Radiation therapy

  • High risk of radiation

  • Chemical exposure of benzene

Lab Investigation Of Leukemia

• Laboratory investigations for leukemia are essential for diagnosis the primary lab investigation of leukemia are:

1. Complete blood count(CBC):

   • CBC measures the levels of different blood cells, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. It also provides a breakdown of the types of white blood cells (differential).

   • Usually abnormally high or low white blood cell counts, low red blood cell and platelet counts and the presence of immature white blood cells (blasts).

2. Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy:

   • Bone marrow biopsy confirms the diagnosis and provides information about the specific type and stage.

   • A bone marrow sample is taken usually from the hip bone to examine the blood-forming cells more closely.

   • Multinucleated normoblast and often dyserythropoietic feature are seen

   • Megakarocytes are abnormal with micro small, binuclear or polynuclear form.

   • bone marrow biopsy show fibrosis in 10% of cases

3. Peripheral blood smear:

   • A blood smear is examined under a microscope to assess the appearance of blood cells.

   • pancytopenia is a frequent finding

   • Red blood cell are usually macrocytic or dimorphic but occasionally hypochromic normoblast

   • Red blood cell count is low

   • Lack of granulation

   • Chemotactic phagocytic and adhesive function are impaired

   • platelet may be unduly large or small are usually decrease in number

   • Number of myeloblast are present in blood

4. Cytogentic analysis:

   • Cytogentic analysis detect genetic abnormalities.

5. Polymerase chain reaction:

   • PCR is a sensitive technique used to detect specific genetic mutations or chromosomal translocations associated with leukemia.

6. Lactate dehydrogenase:

   • LDH is an enzyme that can be elevated in many types of cancer, including leukemia.

LEUKEMIA

About author

Himanshu Paneru is the founder and author of DOC NOTE MASTER,

a platform dedicated to sharing insightful articles on medical topics

and education. Currently pursuing a master’s degree in Medical

microbiology at Netaji subhash chandra bose sybharti medical

college Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Himanshu combines his academic

knowledge with a passion for writing.