Leukaemia
Leukaemia means white blood. It is the name given to those forms of cancer which cause an over - production of white blood cells - the leucocytes. There are a number of different leukaemias, named according to the cell that they arise from and the way in which they present. Lymphoblastic leukaemia arises in a cell line that would normally produce lymphocytes. Myeloid leukaemia arises in a cell line that would normally have gone on to produce red blood cells or neutrophils. In general the leukaemias may be described as either acute or chronic, depending on the speed at which they develop. The acute leukaemias, such as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, (ALL - the commonest leukaemia of childhood) cause symptoms which arise because the marrow is swamped by the abnormal white cells. This means the normal marrow functions fail - there are no red cells, so the patient is anaemic. There are no neutrophils to fight bacteria, so the patient is at risk of infection, and there are no platelets to help the blood clot, so the patient bleeds and bruises easily. It can be treated using chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Bone marrow transplantation may be effective in patients who relapse. Chronic leukaemias, such as Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL - the commonest leukaemia in the Western World) on the other hand may cause no symptoms, may simply be discovered on a blood test, and require no treatment. In most cases the cause of the disease is unknown, though there is an association with exposure to chemicals such as benzene, and radioactivity.
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