Doctors refer to various cancers of the blood-forming system as leukemia. Colloquially, one speaks of blood cancer . According to the definition of the term leukemia, which comes from ancient Greek, the disease is white-blooded - leukos means white, haima blood - because it is based on a strong increase in degenerate white blood cells (leukocytes) in the bone marrow.
Leukemia usually occurs between the ages of 60 and 70,
and the incidence in Germany is almost 14,000 new cases per year across all age
groups. Because symptoms are severe and the disease can be fatal, it is
important that treatment be given quickly.
Leukemia: The Symptoms
Leukemia is the technical term for blood
cancer. Depending on whether you have acute or chronic leukemia, different
symptoms occur. In acute leukemia symptoms suddenly develop, in chronic
blood cancer the first signs develop later.
Symptoms of acute leukemia can
include:
- fatigue
- decreased performance
- pale skin
- increased pulse
- shortness of breath
- dizziness
- swollen lymph nodes
- Rash on the skin
- small bleeding skin (petechiae)
- bruising (due to increased tendency to bleed)
- Night sweats
- fever
- Weight loss
- Pain in the joints and bones
- Growths on the gums
- Enlargement of the liver
- Enlargement of the spleen
In chronic leukemia ,
the signs that appear depend on the stage of the disease:
- In the chronic phase , the spleen is
enlarged, which can lead to upper abdominal pain. Most of those affected
are often tired and inefficient.
- In the transition phase, there are
also paleness, palpitations and shortness of
breath - the typical signs of anemia. People are prone to bleeding,
night sweats, and a fever.
- The so-called blast crisis is
the last phase of chronic leukemia. The symptom are similar to those
of acute leukemia and are quickly fatal.
Different types of leukemia
Leukemia is actually not a single disease, but
several. Doctors divide it up according to which course it takes, acute or
chronic, and which blood cells are affected. Acute leukemia can occur
suddenly at any age. It is quick and fatal if left untreated. Doctors
describe leukemia as chronic, which tends to be insidious and causes symptoms
late on.
The different forms are :
Acute leukemia
Doctors differentiate between acute myeloid
leukemia (AML) and acute lymphatic leukemia (ALL). In acute myeloid
leukemia (AML), the change affects myeloid progenitor cells. The cells,
so-called myeloid blasts, do not mature into functional blood cells. It is
rare in children and more likely to occur in adults. ALL, on the other
hand, is the most common type of leukemia in children, but is rare in
adults. Too many immature, non-functional lymphocytes are found in the
patients. The change underlying the outbreak of the disease already
happened in a preliminary stage of the formation of the lymphocytes, the cells
do not develop any further, and blood formation is disturbed. ALL
progresses rapidly and, if left untreated, leads to death within a short time.
Chronic leukemia
There is chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)
and chronic lymphatic leukemia (CLL), which is a special
case (see a paragraph below). Almost all CML patients have a genetic
change: the so-called Philadelphia chromosome, which is likely to be involved
in the development of leukemia. With the disease, a certain form of white
blood cells multiplies in an uncontrolled manner and these pass from the bone
marrow into the blood. At diagnosis, there are up to 500,000 leukocytes
per microliter of blood (4,000 to 10,000 are normal). This excess of white
blood cells can lead to potentially fatal complications such as blood clots and
vascular occlusions. CLL is the most common leukemia disease in Europe.
Special case of chronic lymphatic leukemia (CLL)
Despite the name, chronic lymphocytic leukemia
(CLL) does not count among the leukemias: experts now assign it to malignant
lymphomas, i.e. the group of lymph gland cancer. In CLL, mature
lymphocytes, usually found in the lymph nodes and tissues, change. The
term leukemia in the name comes from the fact that the changed lymphocytes in
CLL patients usually also occur in the blood.
In lymphatic leukemia, doctors also differentiate
between an acute form (acute lymphatic leukemia, ALL) and a chronic form
(chronic lymphatic leukemia, CLL). ALL is the most common type of leukemia
in children, while older adults are more likely to develop CLL. Both forms
have in common that they affect the lymphatic precursor cells from
which the lymphocytes later develop. In lymphocytic leukemia, the body
produces large amounts of immature lymphocytes that displace healthy cells.
Childhood leukemia
Children can get leukemia too - in fact, leukemia
is the most common pre-adult cancer. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or
ALL for short , occurs most frequently under the age of 15 (80
percent) . Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has a share of up to 20
percent in childhood.
Leukemia: the diagnosis at the doctor
If a doctor suspect that a patient has leukemia, he
will primarily test the blood values and do a blood count . For
example, an increased leukocyte count in the test is an important indicator of
leukemia. Further examinations involve the organs or the spinal fluid.