Chronic Leukaemia

The cancer that affects the white blood corpuscles and the bone marrow is known as leukaemia.

Chronic leukaemia is of two types:

• Chronic myeloid leukaemia where the myeloid cells are affected
• Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia where the lymphocytes are affected.

In majority of the cases, chronic leukaemia is found in people who are above the age of 50.

Symptoms

The chronic myeloid leukaemia progresses in three stages.

The chronic is the stage where the cancerous myeloid cells are low and one may not experience any symptoms.
The accelerated is the stage where the cancerous cells start multiplying at a faster pace, resulting in the worsening of the symptoms as well as an increased vulnerability to infections.
The advanced is the stage where the count of cancerous myeloid cells is menacingly high and the symptoms are also severe. This stage is termed the blast crisis.

The symptoms that can be observed during the accelerated stage of chronic myeloid leukaemia are:

• Appetite loss
• Loss in weight
• Tiredness
• Increase in sweating
• Bruising in abnormal ways
• Abnormal bleeding
• Developing sweats in the night

The Chronic myeloid leukaemia or CML also result in the inflammation of the spleen, which can be observed on the left hand side of the abdomen. The person will experience pain if the lump is touched. Loss of appetite as well as indigestion is triggered by the swelling.

The symptoms that can be observed during the advanced stage of this condition are:

• Repeated infections in short time spans
• The skin becomes abnormally pale.
• Bleeding gums
• Bleeding from the nose
• Unusually heavy periods in women
• The skin gets bruised very easily
• The lymph nodes are swollen’
• The skin develops an itching sensation.

One may not observe any symptoms in the initial stages of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. The symptoms that can be observed in its advanced stages are those similar to ones in CML like

• Repeated infections in short span of time
• Breathlessness
• Tiredness
• Developing sweats in the night
• Weakness
• Unusual bruising
• Unusual bleeding
• Swelling of the spleen
• Swelling of lymph nodes.

Presence of more than three swollen lymph nodes indicates the advanced stage of CLL which requires treatment.

Causes

The basic cause of the cancer is the mutation of the DNA of the cells manufacturing white blood cells resulting in an abnormal multiplication if white blood corpuscles. This alteration occurs due to:

• Increases exposure to high intensity radiation
• Increased exposure to chemical benzene
• Excessive smoking
• Excessive usage of alcohol

Treatment

The usual drug used for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia is imatnib, which blocks the signals to the cancer cells that helps them in multiplying. Then they destroy those cells.

Another drug which can be used as an alternative to imatnib is interferon alpha. It works by provoking the immune system for attacking the cancer cells.

The early stages of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia can be treated using:

• Chemotherapy
• Monoclonal antibody therapy
• Bone marrow transplantation
• transplantation of the stem cells

Complications

The complications involved are:

• being Immunnocompromised
• Infertility
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Stress