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Leukemia

Leukemia Parallelogram

Cancers that begin in the blood-forming tissue of the bone marrow are called Leukemia. These cancers do not form solid tumors. Instead, large numbers of abnormal white blood cells (Leukemia cells and leukemic blast cells) build up in the blood and bone marrow, crowding out normal blood cells. The low level of normal blood cells can make it harder for the body to get oxygen to its tissues, control bleeding, or fight infections.

Specific risk factors for Leukemia depend on the type of Leukemia. In general, increased risk is associated with being male, smoking, exposure to certain chemicals such as benzene, exposure to radiation, past treatment with chemotherapy or radiation therapy, having certain inherited or genetic disorders, having certain blood disorders, and having a family history of Leukemia. There are no standard screening tests for Leukemia. Depending on the type of Leukemia, standard treatments include watchful waiting, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation therapy, and stem cell transplant.

The following are some of the most common types of Leukemia, which are grouped based on how quickly the disease gets worse (acute or chronic) and on the type of blood cell the cancer starts in (lymphoblastic or myeloid).

Acute
Leukemia

Acute lymphocytic (lymphoblastic) Leukemia (ALL): About 3 out of 4 childhood Leukemias are ALL. This Leukemia starts from early forms of lymphocytes in the bone marrow. Acute myelogenous Leukemia (AML): This type of Leukemia, also called acute myeloid Leukemia, acute myelocytic Leukemia, or acute non-lymphocytic Leukemia, accounts for most of the remaining cases.

Chronic
Leukemia

Chronic Leukemias are much more common in adults than in children. They tend to grow more slowly than acute Leukemias, but they are also harder to cure.

Juvenile
Myelomonocytic
Leukemia (JMML)

This rare type of Leukemia is neither chronic nor acute. It begins from myeloid cells, but it usually doesn’t grow as fast as AML or as slow as CML. It occurs most often in young children (under age 4). Symptoms can include pale skin, fever, cough, easy bruising or bleeding, trouble breathing (from too many white blood cells in the lungs), and an enlarged spleen and lymph nodes.

Lymphoma

lymphoma Parallelogram

Lymphoma is cancer that begins in lymphocytes (T cells or B cells). These are disease-fighting white blood cells that are part of the immune system. In lymphoma, abnormal lymphocytes build up in lymph nodes and lymph vessels, as well as in other organs of the body.

Hodgkin
lymphoma

People with this disease have abnormal lymphocytes that are called Reed-Sternberg cells. These cells usually form from B cells.Hodgkin lymphoma accounts for about 3% of childhood cancers. It is more common, though, in 2 age groups: early adulthood (age 15 to 40, usually people in their 20s) and late adulthood (after age 55). Hodgkin lymphoma is rare in children younger than 5 years of age. This type of cancer is very similar in children and adults, including which types of treatment work best.

Non-Hodgkin
lymphoma

This is a large group of cancers that start in lymphocytes. The cancers can grow quickly or slowly and can form from B cells or T cells.These cancers start in certain cells of the immune system called lymphocytes. They most often grow in lymph nodes and other lymph tissues, like the tonsils or thymus. Lymphomas can also affect the bone marrow and other organs, and can cause different symptoms depending on where the cancer is. Lymphomas can cause weight loss, fever, sweats, tiredness (fatigue), and lumps (swollen lymph nodes) under the skin in the neck, armpit, or groin.Non-Hodgkin lymphoma makes up about 5% of childhood cancers. It is more likely to occur in younger children than Hodgkin lymphoma, but it is still rare in children younger than 3. The most common types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in children are different from those in adults. These cancers often grow quickly and require intensive treatment, but they also tend to respond better to treatment than most non-Hodgkin lymphomas in adults.

Risk factors for both Hodgkin lymphoma and NHL include being male, having a weakened immune system, or being infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or Epstein-Barr virus. Infection with Helicobacter pylori or human T-cell Leukemia/lymphoma virus type 1 (HTLV-1) increases the risk for certain types of NHL. The risk of NHL increases with age, whereas the risk of Hodgkin lymphoma is higher in both early adulthood and later life. Standard treatments for both types of lymphoma are chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and stem cell transplant. Additional standard therapies include surgery for Hodgkin lymphoma and targeted therapy, plasmapheresis, watchful waiting and biological therapy for NHL.

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