In layman’s terms, leukemia is a group of diseases in which a series of symptoms occur due to the massive growth of tumor cells of hematologic origin in the bone marrow (the site of hematopoiesis), which inhibits the production of normal blood cells (including white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets). Leukemia can be divided into acute leukemia and chronic leukemia based on the course of the disease, cell origin, and degree of differentiation, among which acute leukemia is divided into acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
Causes and symptoms
The causes of leukemia are mainly two parts: genetic factors, where a bad gene given by the old ancestors (high-risk genes) makes some people more likely to get leukemia; and environmental factors, including exposure to chemical toxins (dyes, hair dyes, alkylating agents, etc.), radiation, certain viral infections, and unhealthy lifestyles (smoking, eating a lot of barbecue, etc.).
Of course there is not one causative factor that makes you sick; there is often a combination of factors that contribute to the development of leukemia, meaning that the person has a high-risk gene themselves and then encounters a high-risk environment, so that the person’s chances of developing leukemia are greatly increased.
The symptoms caused by leukemia are mainly those due to a decrease in normal cells:
- White blood cells are the equivalent of the body’s police, responsible for dealing with all kinds of bacteria and viruses that enter our body, etc. A decrease in white blood cells can lead to a lowered resistance and frequent colds and fevers;
- Red blood cells are the transport soldiers in the body, responsible for transporting oxygen to all parts of the body. A decrease in red blood cells leads to anemia and symptoms such as dizziness (lack of oxygen in the brain), weakness (lack of oxygen in the muscles), and loss of appetite (lack of oxygen in the digestive tract);
- platelets are related to clotting, and if platelets are lowered, there will be more bleeding from wounds, as well as spontaneous pair of bleeding, such as subcutaneous petechiae (which is bruising), internal bleeding, etc.
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In addition, some patients will have symptoms of local infiltration, abnormal masses, or bone pain.
Treatment
Although leukemia is a malignant tumor, a significant proportion of patients can be completely cured. With regular treatment, nearly half can achieve long-term survival. Treatment includes chemotherapy, bone marrow transplantation, etc.
The goal of chemotherapy is to apply drugs that are lethal to tumor cells to kill them and achieve complete remission, meaning that the symptoms of leukemia disappear and the bone marrow and blood picture largely return to normal. Different types of leukemia apply different combinations of chemotherapy drugs.
After chemotherapy remission, either consolidation therapy, depending on the disease, or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, which is primarily used in acute leukemia with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, is a treatment that involves killing as many leukemia cells as possible with strong chemotherapy and then seeding new hematopoietic cells (donor stem cells) in the hope that the donor stem cells will grow in the body and restore normal hematopoiesis.
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a therapy that can cure leukemia. But the cost is more expensive, at least $200,000 to $300,000.
Also, there are new drugs available, including targeted therapies designed to target antigens specifically expressed on leukemia, or immunotherapies designed to target tumor cells, the latest CAR-T therapy. Advances in therapy in recent years will offer the possibility of a complete cure for leukemia.
It is important to mention in particular that M3 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a special type of leukemia, M3 is acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), because of the contribution of our scientists (Academician Wang Zhenyi, Academician Chen Zhu, Academician Chen Saijuan), who discovered the miraculous efficacy of all-trans retinoic acid against M3, making this disease become a near-cure leukemia.
Prevention and precautions
Prevention of leukemia requires attention to the following areas:
- Avoid excessive exposure to X-rays and other harmful radiations and chemical poisons;
- It is best to decorate your home with materials that meet environmental requirements and are not harmful to humans;
- Do not abuse drugs. Be careful when using drugs such as chloramphenicol, cytotoxic anticancer drugs, and immunosuppressants. In addition, use hair dyes sparingly or not at all. U.S. researchers found that women who use hair dyes (especially in large amounts) have 3.8 times the risk of developing leukemia.
- Healthy living. Quit smoking and drink less, and reduce your intake of pickled, smoked, and barbecued foods. Seek prompt medical attention if you become unwell.