Leukemia Lab Report

Leukemia is a cancer of blood cells, specifically white blood cells that are responsible for fighting infection. However, the abnormal cells in leukemia do not function in the same way as normal white blood cells. Leukemia cells continue to grow and divide, eventually crowding out normal blood cells. The end result is that it becomes difficult for the body to fight infections, control bleeding and transport oxygen (Medicine Net, 2015). It is estimated that each year, approximately 30,800 individuals will be diagnosed with leukemia in the United

Leukemia is a type of cancer that sadly causes around 25,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. The area that it affects is the blood and the bone marrow and like most or all of the types of cancer in the world if not taken control of early it will most likely kill you.

Thesis/argument statement OR main idea statement: Cancer affects children and their families in many ways.

1. Leukemia is a group of malignant diseases of the bone marrow and lymphatic system

Each year there is an estimated 31,000 new diagnosis of leukemia (Gould & Dyer, 2011). Leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells. Bone marrow the spongy tissue inside the bone is where the blood cells are made (The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). Normal white blood cells fight infections in our bodies. In leukemia, the bone marrow is making abnormal white blood cells. The two main types of white blood cells that leukemia affects are; lymphocytes and myeloid cells (The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). Lymphoblasts are the young cell that will develop into lymphocytes (The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). They are classified as B- lymphocytes and T-lymphocytes (The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). B-lymphocytes make antibodies that fight infections (The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). The T-lymphocytes have many functions, but primarily assist the B-lymphocytes in making antibodies (The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). The myeloid, or granulocytes cells, evolve from the immature myeloblasts to become infection fighting cells. Leukemia makes abnormal cells that grow at a quicker rate than normal white blood cells. Leukemia cells do not stop growing, and do not work like normal white blood cells. Over time these abnormal cells start crowding and blocking the production of red blood cells, platelets and normal white blood cells (The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society).

Leukemia is a cancer that affects the bone marrow. The bon marrow is the soft spongy center of the bone that produces blood cells. Leukemia is found in white blood cells or leukocytes. The white blood cells help to fight ff infections and other diseases. Normally, cells produce in an orderly way, but people that have leukemia the cell production gets out of control. The marrow produces too many immature white blood cells called blasts. They are differently shaped and can’t carry out their usual duties.

Some of these factors are older age, working with certain chemicals, smoking, exposure to high levels of radiation, or prior blood disorders. Also, AML can be caused by failures of regulations in the cell cycle. Hematopoietic precursor cells, or HPCs, enable these cancer cells to go through unlimited numbers of cell cycles and become immune to death. According to the National Cancer Institute, 7 per 100,000 men and women die from Leukemia every year. The relative success rate after 5 years is 58.5%, which means 58.5 out of every 100 people survive after being diagnosed with Leukemia. According to the Leukemia Research Foundation, 67 Americans lose the fight to Leukemia. Also, Leukemia causes more deaths than other cancer among children and youths under 20. There are many types of treatment options for Leukemia, however there is not a set treatment that is preferred to all patients. It just depends on which route the patient is wanting/needing to take. The four main types of treatments are Chemotherapy, Radiation Therapy, and Biological Therapy. Biological Therapy is treatment with substances that affect the immune systems’s response to cancer. Also, patients can partake a Stem Cell Transplantation where high doses of drugs or radiation goes into the bone marrow and destroys all of the cancer cells, plus the normal cells. Later, the patient comes back and is implanted with healthy

Get the reader’s attention. Set the scene. Who is involved? When and where did the event take place? Parents Sara and Brian Fitzgerald have a daughter Kate who at the age of two was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia.

“Childhood Leukemia survivors are at risk, to some degree, for several possible late effects of their treatment” (Cancer.Net Editorial Board.) Chemotherapy is used to fight Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Although it is a great method to fight cancer, it has many negative side effects. Chemotherapy is known to cause serious or minor long-term side effects.

Leukemia is not only genetically inherited but there are also environmental factors that lead to the development of Leukemia. Some factors are smoking and hair dye because they are manmade. First of all, smoking is a big contributor to Leukemia development because of the chemicals used in cigarettes that cause leukemia. Benzene and other chemicals are carcinogens which is any cancer-causing basis. When any human is exposed to Benzene the risk of leukemia development increases because it is a major contributor. The carcinogens are absorbed by the lungs through a cigarette and make their way into the blood stream. This is where they begin to affect the bone marrow and the blood cells by causing the development of abnormal white blood cells. (Cancer Risk Relations 1)

Acute myeloid leukemia is caused by damage to the DNA of developing cells in your bone marrow. This causes blood cell production to go awry. Bone marrow then produces immature cells that develop into leukemic white blood cells (WBC) called myeloblasts. These cells cannot function properly and ends up taking over the remaining healthy cells. Factors such as: increasing age, your gender, previous cancer treatments, exposure to radiation,

Leukemia cancer in the patient will make bone marrow to produce excessive amount of cells. Among those cells, white blood cells will be in excessive amount. Most of the cells do not get mature properly which lead to reproduction of few more immature cells. Healthy cells reproduce when there is enough space for them to fit in the blood. The immunity system of body can regulate the reproduction of normal cells by sending some signals. Whereas coming to immature cells doesn't respond to signals and reproduce in excess amount with in short period of time.

leukemia has almost 62,000 new cases per year and 24,500 deaths per year. Leukemia now makes up 3.7% of new cancer cases. The death rate for Leukemia is higher in elderly than in children and young adults. Leukemia is more common in men and the most common cancer is children because the statistics show that acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) specifically, accounts for about 1 out of 3 cases of childhood cancer. As for most cancers not everyone had an identifiable risk factor but some of the risk factors for leukemia is exposure to radiation. Another is exposure to certain chemicals and cigarette smoking is also known to increase the risk from AML which is Acute Myeloid Leukemia. There can be certain genetic disorders like Down syndrome, Li-Fraumeni

Every three minutes, someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer, and every ten minutes someone dies of the disease. (Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 2014). Blood cancers cause the function, normal development, and production, of blood cells to be interrupted, as they grow uncontrollably. (American Society of Hematology, n.d.). The disease starts in the bone marrow, where cancerous white blood cells prevent the body from fighting off infections and stopping serious bleeding. (American Society of Hematology, n.d.). There are three main types of blood cancers; they include leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. (Anthony Nolan, n.d.). Acute myelogenous leukemia is one of the most common forms of leukemia in adults. (American Cancer Society, 2014).

Leukemia originates in the bone marrow as the result of a mutation in an individuals DNA. Bone marrow is found in the inner core of bones, and is a type of soft tissue that makes blood cells. Though it is predominately part of the skeletal system, healthy bone marrow makes red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, and regulates the amount of blood cells that are produced in order to maintain normal function within the body. However, once a mutation alters the genetic code within cells of the bone marrow, control and production of an individual’s blood cells can no longer be maintained properly. Specifically, leukemia causes a rise in the amount of white blood cells found in the blood, many of which are abnormal and thus lack the ability to function appropriately. White blood cells (leukocytes) are essential to an individual’s health as they are the primary fighters of infection. As part of the immune system, healthy white blood cells target infectious agents, pathogens, damaged cells, and other foreign substances found in the blood and facilitate their removal from the body. Over time, the cancerous cells generate enough abnormal blood