Karina Sousa
Biology 1010 T/Th 11:30
Assignment #4
Leukemia
Whenever you think of leukemia, you think of death. However, many cancer patients
have survived it and lived a long happy life. Leukemia is a cancer of blood-forming tissues that
origin in the bone marrow which is the sponge-like material that is inside the bone. It’s easier to
better understand leukemia when you know what makes up your bone marrow and normal blood.
Red blood cells carry oxygen and carbon dioxide throughout your body. The white blood cells
fight to keep germs away. There are many different types of white blood cells and they all have
their own part in fighting off germs. The three main types: neutrophils, monocytes and
lymphocytes. The trait common to all types of leukemia is the uncontrollable production of white
cells. But leukemia also changes the way blood cells are produced. The bone marrow starts
producing too many blasts, which are abnormal, immature cells. These blasts start to crowd out
the blood cells in the blood marrow.
Leukemia is classified in four different types. Leukemia can either be acute or chronic,
but the group it is classified in also depends on the type of cell affected and the speed of its
growth. Acute Leukemia is when immature blood cells are overgrown. This prevents blood cells
from doing their jobs and so they can’t prevent anemia, infection and bleeding. Acute
lymphocyte leukemia is one of the two main types of Acute Leukemia and it is found most of the
time in children and young adults. The other type of Acute Leukemia is Acute Myeloid
Leukemia and this one is found in adults. Chronic Leukemia is also when immature blood cells
are overgrown but unlike acute leukemia, people with chronic leukemia more often than not still
have enough white blood cells to fight off infections. The other two types of leukemia are
Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Myeloproliferative Disease. Myelodysplastic Syndrome is when
the bone marrow does produce enough normal blood cells; sometimes Myelodysplastic
Syndrome can eventually turn into acute leukemia. Myeloproliferative Disease is when it
produces way too many blood cells. This disease can sometimes progress slowly and doesn’t
require a lot of treatment, although sometime it can progress into acute myeloid leukemia.
Current research findings have shown that acute myeloid leukemia has rare cells with
stem cell properties, called leukemia stem cells. They are better at predicting clinical outcome
than the majority of acute myeloid leukemia cells, unraveling for the first time that leukemia
stem cells are important not only in experiment models but in patients as well.
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Work Cited
Koehler, Geoff. “New Research Validates Clinical Importance of Leukemia Stem Cells.”
EurekAlert!. 28 August 2011. Web. 25 November 2011.
"Leukemia." Environmental Encyclopedia. Gale, 2011. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context.
Web. 4 Dec. 2011.
MD Anderson Cancer Center. “Leukemia.” The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer
Center. 2011. Web. 25 November 2011.
Science Daily. “Aging Stem Cells May Explain Higher Prevalence of Leukemia, Infections
Among Elderly.” Science Daily. 28 November 2011. Web. 30 November 2011.