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 Leukemia is cancer of the white blood cells
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 There are about 54,270 new cases of leukemia in the US each year
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 There are about 20,830 new cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and

10,460 deaths from AML in the US each year, most cases are adults
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 Approximately 1
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 Compared to other cancers, leukemia is relatively rare
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 Leukemia is slightly more common in men than women
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Function of the bone marrow
The bone marrow is found in the inside of bones
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Approximately 4% of our total
bodyweight consists of bone marrow
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Red marrow, made up mainly of
myeloid tissue
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Yellow marrow, made up mostly of fat cells
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Red marrow can also be found at the
ends of long bones, such as the humerus and femur
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Red blood cells carry oxygen, white blood cells fight
diseases
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Yellow marrow can be
found in the inside of the middle section of long bones
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White blood cells, red blood cells and platelets exist in plasma - Blood plasma
is the liquid component of blood, in which the blood cells are suspended
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In
other words, acute leukemia crowds out the good cells more quickly
than chronic leukemia
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If the
cancerous transformation occurs in the type of marrow that makes
lymphocytes, the disease is called lymphocytic leukemia
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If the
cancerous change occurs in the type of marrow cells that go on to produce
red blood cells, other types of white cells, and platelets, the disease is
called myelogenous leukemia
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Survival

rates of at least five years range from 85% among children and 50% among
adults
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Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) - This is most common among
adults over 55, although younger adults can get it as well
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The majority of patients with CLL are men, over 60%
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Experts say CLL is incurable
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Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) - AML is more common among adults
than children, and affects males significantly more often than females
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40% of treated patients survive for
over 5 years
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Researchers from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center reported in
the March 2012 issue of NEJM (New England Journal of Medicine that they
identified a series of genetic mutations in people with AML
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Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) - The vast majority of patients are
adults
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Gleevec (imatinib) is
commonly used to treat CML, as well as some other drugs
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Symptoms of leukemia


Blood clotting is poor - As immature white blood cells crowd out blood
platelets, which are crucial for blood clotting, the patient may bruise or bleed
easily and heal slowly - he may also develop petechiae (a small red to purple
spot on the body, caused by a minor hemorrhage)
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The
patient may experience frequent infections, or his immune system may attack
other good body cells
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Other symptoms - Patients may also experience nausea, fever, chills, night
sweats, flu-like symptoms, and tiredness
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Headache is more common among patients whose cancerous cells have
invaded the CNS (central nervous system)
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A
diagnosis of leukemia can only be confirmed after medical tests are carried
out
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The following are
either known causes, or strongly suspected causes:



Artificial ionizing radiation

Viruses - HTLV-1 (human T-lymphotropic virus) and HIV (human
immunodeficiency virus)
Benzene and some petrochemicals


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Alkylating chemotherapy agents used in previous cancers
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Maternal fetal transmission (rare)


Hair dyes



Genetic predisposition - some studies researching family history and looking at
twins have indicated that some people have a higher risk of developing
leukemia because of a single gene or multiple genes
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Experts say that because of this, people with certain chromosomal
abnormalities may have a higher risk
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The IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) says that
studies which indicate there is a risk tend to be biased and unreliable
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Avocado compound holds promise for treating leukemia
According to research published in the journal Cancer Research, there is a
compound in avocados - called avocatin B - that holds promise for a new
treatment for AML
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This is the conclusion of a
new study published in PLOS One
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The type of treatment will also
depend on the patient's age and his state of health
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As treatment has improved, the aim of virtually all health
care professionals should be complete remission - that the cancer goes away
completely for a minimum of five years after treatment
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When a patient is in remission he will still need consolidation therapy or post
induction therapy
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If a patient has Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) his treatment should
start as soon as the diagnosis is confirmed
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Gleevec stops the CML from getting worse, but does not cure it
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Patients who have not had success with
Gleevec are usually given Sprycel and Tarigna
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A bone marrow transplant is the only current way of curing a patient
with CML
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Synribo (omacetaxine mepesuccinate) was approved by the FDA, on
26th October 2012, for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML)
in adult patients who had been treated with at least two drugs, but whose
cancer continued to progress
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Synribo is an alkaloid from Cephalotaxus harringtonia which inhibits proteins
that trigger the development of cancerous cells
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Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) may not receive any
treatment for a long time after diagnosis
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Some patients with CLL may
benefit from allogeneic stem cell transplantation (bone marrow transplant)
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Leukemia patients' own T-cells achieve remission for over two years patients who were infused with their own T-cells after they had been
genetically altered to fight cancer tumors stayed in full remission for over 24
months
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All those
who took part in the human study had advanced cancers - ten of them had
chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and two children had acute lymphoblastic
leukemia
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They will undergo exams and blood tests
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As time passes and the patient continues to remain free of
leukemia the doctor may decide to lengthen the intervals between tests
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The research was published in the
journal Science Translational Medicine in February 2014
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Leukemia cells can kill each other, study finds
The discovery of a rare human antibody has pointed to a way of getting
leukemia cells to kill each other, according to research published
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

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