Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Hello readers,

The next cancer that I will be discussing is acute lymphoblastic leukemia, one of the few types of leukemia cancers. Also known by its shorthand ALL or acute lymphoid leukemia, this cancer is an acute form of leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells, causing the overproduction of cancerous, immature white blood cells that are known as lymphoblasts. When these lymphoblasts are overproduced in the bone marrow, they continually multiply, which in turn causes damage and death by inhibiting the production of normal cells such as red and white blood cells and platelets in the bone marrow and by spreading to other organs. ALL is most common in childhood.

It is classified according to the type of the white blood cells affected. There are two types: lymphocytes which are mostly used to fight viral infections, and neutrophils, which have multiple functions, such as fighting bacterial infections, defense against parasites and prevention of the spread of tissue damage. Lymphoblastic leukaemia is a cancer of the lymphocytes.

All the blood cells in the body are produced by the bone marrow, a spongy material found inside bones. The bone marrow produces specialized cells called stem cells which have the ability to develop into three blood cells: red blood cells which carry oxygen around the body, white blood cells that fight injections and platelets which act as coagulants so help stop bleeding. Stem cells would fully develop before being released into the blood. However, in acute leukemia, bone marrow releases large numbers of immature white blood cells. As the number of these immature white blood cells increase, there is a drop in the number of red blood and platelet cells. This causes symptoms of anemia, such as tiredness, and increases the risk of excessive bleeding. The immature white blood cells are less effective at fighting bacteria and viruses, which results in increased vulnerability to infection.

Symptoms

The cause of leukemia are uncertain, but there are known risk factors which include exposure to high levels of radiation or exposure to benzene, a chemical used in manufacturing that is also found in cigarettes. The symptoms are usually slow to begin with before getting rapidly severe as the number of immature of white blood cells in blood increase. They include pale skin, tiredness, breathlessness, repeating infections over a short space of time and unusual and frequent bleeding.

Treatment

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is treated usually by a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, however, in some cases, treatment may also include a bone marrow transplant as a cure. Without treatment, there is a risk that the lack of healthy blood cells can make the person vulnerable to life-threatening infections due to the lack of white blood cells or uncontrolled and serious bleeding due to the lack of platelets. For children, the outlook is usually good - almost all children will be in remission and 85% completely cured. However, the outlook for adults are not as good, as only 40% of people with the condition will be completely cured.