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Lizeth Gonzalez
Mrs. Morgan
Research paper
December 17, 2012
Leukemia
Most people have heard of cancer, or maybe know at least one person who has or has had
cancer in their life time. Cancer is a well-known disease that affects millions of families every
year around the world. Cancer isn’t just one disease; cancer is actually about one hundred
diseases such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer, leukemia and many more. Cancer
can affect anybody; it does not matter who you are or how old you are. Cancer affects infants,
toddlers, teenagers, adults; it can affect just about anyone. There has not yet been a way to
prevent this terrible disease but there are factors that can increase your chance of getting cancer;
some of these factors include tobacco, alcohol, sunlight, certain chemicals, some viruses and
bacteria, poor diet and also a family with a history of cancer. Leukemia is a type of cancer. This
type of cancer can either be caused by radiation, certain chemicals, a viruses or genetic traits.
What exactly is leukemia? Leukemia is a in the blood. A human’s blood consists of three
types of cells, the red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Like everything else in our
bodies these cells have a specific function. The red bloods cells help carry out oxygen throughout
your body; the white blood cells help fight invading organisms like bacteria and viruses and the
platelets are involved in the blood clotting process. Leukemia is caused by the invasion of white
blood cells in a human’s body; this has a few effects on the body. The overproduction of white
blood cells can damage the immune system and the body will lose its ability to fight off
infections. Also, if too many white cells produce it will cause the bone marrow to be packed until
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there is no more room for the red blood cells or the platelets to form. This means the body will
not get enough oxygen.
Every human body needs both red and white blood cells to function properly, but there
are two types of white blood cells in a body. These white cells are called lymphocytes and
monocytes. Leukemia results from the overproduction of these white blood cells. Leukemia can
either be acute or chronic. Acute leukemia of any sort develops rapidly whether it is, acute
lymphocytic leukemia or acute myeloid leukemia. On the other hand chronic leukemia develops
rather slowly “New cases of chronic leukemia will account for 5.6 percent more new cases than
acute leukemia” (“Leukemia”). Whether it is chronic lymphocytic leukemia or chronic myeloid
leukemia. Each type of leukemia is named for two characteristics; whether it is acute or chronic
and what type of blood cells is being affected or over produced (“Leukemia”).
Leukemia, like any other cancer it can affect anyone. “An estimated 44,600 people living
in the United States will be diagnosed with leukemia in 2011” (“Leukemia”). Leukemia is the
most common cancer in kids. It accounts for about 1 out of 3 cancers in children. Acute
lymphocytic (lymphoblastic) leukemia (ALL) is the type of leukemia that is most found in
children and adolescents. Other childhood leukemia also include, acute myelogenous leukemia
(AML), and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). While chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
usually never affects children, usually people diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia are
over the age of 55. As well as acute myelogenous leukemia also known as AML usually affects
adults more than children. (“Types of Leukemia”).
For the most part when a person has leukemia, they will have symptoms. A person that
has chronic leukemia might not have as much symptoms as a person with acute leukemia
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because with acute leukemia the white cells are being produced much faster than when a person
has chronic leukemia. Usually chronic leukemia is diagnosed on a routine checkup, as where
with acute leukemia a person will start noticing symptoms such as; weakness or a long-lasting
fatigue, random fevers, unexplained weight loss, frequent infections, headaches, skin rashes,
bone pain with no known cause, easy bruising, bleeding from gums and nose, blood in the urine,
enlarged lymph node and spleen, and fullness in the stomach.
For a person to be diagnosed with leukemia a doctor must do various tests. Since
leukemia is a cancer in the blood the first test they will do is the blood test. During the blood test
a doctor will take out blood and if there are abnormal white blood cells a doctor can predict that
the patient might possibly have leukemia. A more precise test for diagnosing leukemia is the
bone marrow biopsy. The bone marrow biopsy is a quick procedure just like the blood test. The
bone marrow biopsy is done with a long, thin needle that is injected into the marrow of a bone
and taken out to be examined. Samples of both the liquid and the solid bone marrow are taken
out to be examined, usually from the hip chest bone. The bone marrow is later examined under a
microscope where they will confirm the leukemia cells (“What Is a bone marrow transplant”).
Another test that can be done to diagnose leukemia is the lumbar puncture also known as
a spinal tap. During this procedure, like the bone marrow biopsy, a thin needle is inserted. The
needle will be inserted into the space between backbones in the patient’s spine; a sample of the
cerebrospinal fluid will be examined. The cerebrospinal fluid is a fluid that surrounds the spine
and the tissues in the brain. It is important to know whether the cerebrospinal fluid is infected
because it can affect mental process
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After figuring out if a person does have leukemia there are treatments. The treatments
depend on the type of leukemia a person has, how advanced it is, a person’s age or overall
health. For the hematologists or hematologist-oncologists, who are specialists that treat blood
disorders and other kinds of cancers, their goal during the treatments are to first of all get the
patient in remission. Remission means two things: first, no symptoms of the disease remain and
second no abnormal white blood cells can be found in the bone marrow. For remission to take
place, the doctors must start the treatments. The treatments fall into two categories: the
treatments to fight the cancer cells away and the treatments to relieve the symptoms of the
disease.
The most widely used treatment for leukemia or any type of cancer is chemotherapy, also
known as chemo. Chemo is a combination of treatments; it can either be injected in the vein or
taken by mouth. Chemotherapy differs from any other cancer treatment because unlike radiation
and surgery chemotherapy travels throughout the whole body to reach cancer cells where ever
they are. Since chemotherapy travels throughout the whole body, it can also affect the normal,
healthy cells. Damaging healthy cells and tissues can cause side effects. The normal cells that are
most likely to be damaged from chemotherapy are the blood forming cells in the bone marrow
such as; the hair follicles; and cells in the mouth, digestive tract, and reproductive system. The
chemotherapy damaging the normal cells causes the side effects. The most common side effects
for chemotherapy are; hair loss, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, loss of appetite, unlike ordinary
fatigue, mouth sores, and taste change.
Radiation therapy and surgery are also types of treatment to cure leukemia or just any
cancer in general. In radiation therapy, high-energy rays are used. A common source of radiation
used to treat leukemia is the radioactive element, cobalt 60 (“Leukemia”). Radioactive elements
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give off high energy radiation. During the radiation therapy process a patient is positioned under
a table and beneath there is a small piece of cobalt 60 which is contained in a large machine; the
energy given off the cobalt 60 is aimed at the patient’s body, killing the cancer cells. During a
surgery to treat leukemia the process is much different from chemotherapy. Unlike
chemotherapy, surgery isn’t often used in leukemia patients’ due to the fact the leukemia is a
cancer in the blood, not a tumor. A few surgeries that might be done to patients with leukemia
are the spleenectomy and lymphadenectomy. The spleenectomy is the surgical removal of the
spleen, and the lymphadenectomy is the surgical removal of the swollen lymph nodes. Radiation
therapy and surgery are also considered local treatments because these two types of treatments
only act in one area of the body, usually only targeting the cancer cells.
Usually after a few sessions of chemotherapy and radiation therapy a leukemia patient
will go into remission. Remission for cancer patients means that the cancer has disappeared with
the treatments. Although, remission does not mean a person is cured from cancer. To say a
person is truly cured from cancer, they must wait to see if the cancer does come back. If a person
is in remission for several years, one might say they are cured but certain cancers do reoccur
after long periods of remission (“Remission and Goals for Cancer Therapy”).
After a person is in remission, then comes the second part to curing the leukemia. This is
the part when the patient receives a bone marrow transplant. The bone marrow transplant is very
important to cure leukemia because unless the bone marrow is changed, it will keep producing
abnormal white blood cells causing the leukemia to return eventually. The bone marrow
transplant procedure is simple, healthy bone marrow is injected into the patient’s bones. If the
bone marrow transplant is successful the new bone marrow will start producing normal blood
cells. The down side to the bone marrow transplant is that the bone marrow injected into the
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patient’s bones must be extremely similar to the patient’s own bone marrow. For this reason,
only close relatives may be the only ones who can donate bone marrow for this procedure. In the
case that none of the relatives have similar bone marrow as the patient, the patient would have to
wait for the National Marrow Donor Program Registry to search for an individual who is
compatible with his or her type of bone marrow (“What is a bone marrow transplant”). Usually
the donor with similar tissue trait will come from the same racial group. If and then, the bone
marrow is successful the patient could possibly be cured but only time during remission can tell
whether that is the case or not
Cancer is terrible disease that not many people realize the significance of it; it affects
thousands of people around the world. Not only can it affect the people who have it but also
family members. Cancer is a long almost seems ending less, journey for anyone who has to
experience it. You learn how to appreciate things many people take for granted, like hair. People
might say they are having a bad hair day, so what? You have hair, you’re healthy. What more
can you ask for? People with cancer are fighting day to day to even stay alive.
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