Diseases Treated With Bone Marrow Transplants - Leukemia

What is Leukemia

The word leukemia is applied to cancers of the white blood cells, known as leukocytes or WBCs. All blood cells are formed in the marrow of the bones, and white blood cells protect the body from diseases and infections.

In leukemia, the bone marrow produces large numbers of abnormal leukocytes, which not only limit the space for healthy blood cells, but also flood the bloodstream with cells that cannot provide protection.

Leukemia specifically interferes with the production of red blood cells and platelets, causing anemia (in which the number of red blood cells is too low to perform one of their functions of bringing oxygen to the organs of the body.) Other problems include excessive bleeding and increased complications from normal infections.

Who is at Risk for Leukemia?

Leukemia occurs in children and adults. In 2008, in the United States alone, approximately 44,000 adults and over 4,000 children developed leukemia. It is most common in people over age 60. Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is the most common form of leukemia in children. The most common in adults are acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).

Some risk factors for AML are:

Chemotherapies used to treat lymphoma or other types of cancer
Down syndrome, Kleinfelter syndromeand other genetic diseases
Chronic exposure to benzene (such as in the workplace) that exceeds federally approved safety limits
Radiation therapy used to treat other types of cancer
Tobacco smoke.
Exposure to high doses of radiation therapy is also a risk factor for ALL and CML. Other risk factors for leukemia are continually under study.

What are the Symptoms of Leukemia?

Leukemia can develop slowly or fast. Chronic leukemia grows slowly. In acute leukemia, the cells are exceedingly abnormal and their numbers increase rapidly.

Some symptoms of leukemia are:

Infections
Fever
Weight loss
Tiredness
Easy bruising or bleeding.

How is Leukemia Treated?

The first treatment for leukemia is radiation and chemotherapy.

When leukemia cannot be treated by chemotherapy, or is resistant to it, or the patient relapses after it, doctors can turn to bone marrow transplants in order to force the patient s bone marrow to produce healthy blood cells.

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