Case Study : Acute Myeloid Leukemia

According to, “Acute lymphocytic leukemia”(2013), “The word leukemia literally means "white blood" and is used to describe a variety of cancers that begin in the blood-forming cells (lymphocytes) of the bone marrow.” There are two major types of leukemia, which include acute and chronic. Acute Leukemia has several immature white bloods cells and progresses very quickly. Chronic Leukemia has a significant amount of white blood cells and progresses very slowly. Leukemia begins in the bone marrow and works its way throughout the body infecting all major organs. There are no known causes of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). However, it is believed that a combination between environmental, biological and genetic play a role in this type of cancer.

he name of this genetic disorder is called acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). This disorder causes an overgrowth in the promyelocytes, A promyelocytes is the cells in your bone marrow. This leads to a shortage of red and white blood cells and platelets in the body. In this disorder the Chromosome 13 is lost completely, There is no translocation between 7 and 15, 11,15 and 17, and 9 and 18. The mutation that causes this is the PML gene on Chromosome 15 and the RARA gene on Chromosome 17. This is a dominant trait. Some symptoms people feel in the body are fatigue, a fever, loss of appetite, and they bruise very easily because they don't have enough of the red blood cells to sustain the bruise well enough. Some people also experience bleeding,

The purpose of this paper is to educate individuals on a cancerous disease called leukemia. The disease leukemia mostly affects children but can also have an impact on the elderly. However leukemia is mainly found in the bone marrow which I will emphasize throughout this essay. In this paper I will be explaining the cause of this disease, what the 4 main types of leukemia are, who are mainly at risks to get this disease; also I will touch on the current research and the sign and symptoms of this disease.

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) occurs when a bone marrow cells’ DNA, typically the pre-cursor B cell, develops errors. ALL is an acute form of leukemia, characterized by cancerous lymphoblast overproduction and accumulation. The errors in the DNA tell the cell to keep growing and continue dividing. When this happens, the bone marrow produces immature cells that cannot function properly, and they can become over populated and crowd out any healthy cells.

Leukemia is also known as blood cancer. It begins in the bone marrow, the soft material in the center of the bone, and when it runs out of room it works its way to the blood stream. It is a cancer that affects the red and white blood cells. It produces too many red and white blood cells that end up becoming abnormal and the healthy cells don’t have enough room to produce more healthy cells. Healthy cells will end up having a hard time carrying out the functions they need to do.

Borowitz M, Devidas M, Hunger S, Bowman W, Carroll A, Carroll W, Linda S, Martin P, Pullen D, Viswanatha D et al. 2008. Clinical significance of minimal residual disease in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and its relationship to other prognostic factors: a Children’s Oncology Group study. Blood J [internet]. [cited 15 Jun 2008]; 111(12). Available from: http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/111/12/5477.long?sso-checked=true

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is the most common form of leukemia in adults, approximately 20,800 people are diagnosed each year, leading to the lowest survival rate of all of the leukemias. It is a category of cancer of the blood and also the bone marrow (the soft inner part of some bones), and inside the spongy bone where blood cells are created. The average age for this type of leukemia is 65 or older, and is also generally more common in males rather than females. Acute Myeloid Leukemia is cured in 35-40% of people less than 60 years old and 5-15% in people older than 60 years old. If untreated, it can be fatal, and also it can spread to other parts of the body, including organs and tissues. Doctors still do not know what causes AML due to the fact that most people with this disease do not have risk factors that can be altered. Treatment of the AML always depends on the subtype of AML, and some treatments mays include high-dose

Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia is a scary disease. The term “acute” means the disease can quickly spread and progress quickly and can prove fatal in months if left untreated. “Lymphocytic” simply means that it develops from immature forms of lymphocytes. Also known as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, or ALL for short, it is a type of cancer that starts from the early form of white blood cells called lymphocytes in the bone marrow. ALL is the most common form of cancer in children, though adults can get it as well. For children, treatment results in a good chance of a cure. Adults have a significantly smaller chance of a cure with ALL. ALL generally invades the blood very quickly and has the potential to spread to other body parts such as the spleen,

Leukemia cells are abnormal; they cannot help the body fight off any infections. Leukemia takes down your immune system very fast. With this in affect people who have leukemia do get many infections. The patient may also have too few healthy red blood cells and platelets. In acute leukemia the patient develops symptoms suddenly, and are diagnosed when they go to the doctor because they feel sick. In chronic leukemia, symptoms may not appear for a long time. When the symptoms do appear they are mild at first but gradually get worse. Some of the common symptoms are fever, flu-like symptoms, weakness, infections, loss of weight and appetite, easy bleeding/bruising, tiny red spots underneath skin, sweating mainly at night, and bone or joint pain.

If these symptoms are observed then checkup should be required. Nevertheless, accurate diagnosis of cancer is not simple, therefore doctor will collect person’s health history and symptoms, follows with physical examination that is necessary because the symptoms may be similar to other illness. If the doctor feels it is necessary then specifics test required for gathering information about leukemia, such as Bone marrow aspiration, biopsy, Cytogenetic analysis Immunophenotyping, Lumbar puncture, and Chest x-ray. After diagnosis, treatment starts. Bartram, Schrauder, Köhler, and Schrappe (2012) found the

An 11- year old Ontario First Nation girl who refused chemotherapy to pursue traditional indigenous medicine and other alternative treatments, has died after suffering a stroke. The girl’s case made national headlines and ignited a debate about the validity of indigenous medicine and the rights of children to choose their own treatment. After Makayla said she had a vision of Jesus in the hospital, she wrote a letter to her doctors asking to stop treatment. She left chemotherapy treatment while in remission to pursue alternative and traditional indigenous medicine. "Makayla was on her way to wellness, bravely fighting toward holistic well-being after the harsh side-effects that 12 weeks of chemotherapy inflicted on her body," the family statement

On January, 2010 A 94 year old patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia was administered in the University hospital. The patient died 21 days after being admitted. The patient died from a urinary tract infection. The microbe was responsible for her death was the unknown # 12; it was resistant to the antibiotics administered to her: ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, erthanem, and imipenem. Reportedly the microbe is only susceptible to cefoxitin, cafepoime, meropenem, colistin, and tigecycline. Unknown # 12 is commonly acquired at hospital setting and usually spread by hospital co-workers hand, reported by the article “Klebsiella Pneumoniae in Healthcare Settings.” The microbe is determined to be a gram negative bacteria with rod-shaped cells. Infections from different cases were caused by the invasion from any part of the body may it be from a human or an animal body. The infection from such a disease leads to diseases such as yeast infection, etc. The microbe can be transmitted through skin contact and by contact with contaminated

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) is a profound disease that involves an overproduction of immature myeloid and lymphoid cells. Hematopoiesis is a process where Hemocytoblast stem cells differentiate into a range of progenitor cells. Part of the developmental process for these progenitor cells occurs in the spleen, liver and lymph nodes. In ALL, clonal cells then take up space within the blood stream, causing the percentage of normal blood constituents to be out of balance. For example, less erythrocytes are made, putting the suffer at risk of being anemic which has further risks associated with it. It can be determined that you have ALL from a blood test, chromosome analysis or a bone marrow sample. For a blood test, then a complete blood

Patient with bone marrow transplant are usually hospitalized for many weeks due to grafting and to decrease risk of infection. These children usually have many procedures during their admission. The child may be very immunosuppressed while in the hospital and receiving chemo and medications. Skin breakdown and delayed healing may also occur after undergoing procedure. Family may be worried about successful graft and fatal complications. Malignancy may occur after graft.

Normal HSC’s (hematopoietic-stem-cells) reside in niche microenvironment of red bone marrow and their function and survival is regulated here. AML is present in extramedullary-AML in the initial diagnosis or during a relapse. Extramedullary infiltrations are common in all AML patients, including in the: