Taking a Look at Leukemia

According to the American Cancer Society (2013) stated, “Leukemia is a cancer that starts in early blood-forming cells” (American Cancer Society, 2013). “Most often, leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells, but some leukemias start in other blood cell types” (American Cancer Society, 2013). “Any of the cells from the bone marrow can turn into a leukemia cell” (American Cancer Society, 2013). According to the American Cancer Society (2013) stated, “Once this change takes place, the leukemia cells don’t go through the normal process of maturing” (American Cancer Society, 2013). There are changes that leukemia cells can quickly reproduce themselves and not die when they are suppose too (American Cancer Society, 2013). “They survive and build up in the bone marrow, crowding out normal cells” (American Cancer Society, 2013). “In most cases, the leukemia cells spill into the bloodstream fairly quickly” (American Cancer Society, 2013). “Almost all childhood leukemia is acute leukemias” (American Cancer Society, 2013).

Leukemia is cancerous disease that starts in blood-forming tissue such as the bone marrow and causes large numbers of blood cells to be produced and enter the blood-stream (National Cancer Institute, 2008, para. 1). It is one of many complicated cancer diseases that affect all ages and have very negative outcomes if not treated properly, and on time. Within the disease are several different types that affect according to how quickly the disease develops and attacks the body. It could be classified as chronic leukemia, which has a slow progress of getting worse or acute leukemia which usually gets worse quickly. The types of leukemia also can be grouped based on the white blood cell that is affected (National Cancer Institute , 2008, p. 1).

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.

The town of Woburn, MA was stricken with an epidemic of different types of leukemia, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which affected 8 families. The mere notion that such rare cases occurred within a half mile radius of each other was a call for attention. It is the plaintiff 's claim that these cases were the result of a toxic contamination of the town’s water supply by the defendant 's unintentional, improper disposal of the following chemical waste products: Trichloroethylene (TCE) and Perchlorethylene (PCE). The plaintiff accuses the defendant of the following charges: negligence of chemical procedures including, but not limited to, illegal dumping of TCE, as well as PCE, and wrongful death, resulting from a depraved indifference to human life. Given the pain and suffering the victims and their families have undergone due to the defendant’s gross negligence, the plaintiff asks for compensation for and acknowledgement of wrongdoing on the defendant 's part. The plaintiff also calls for an injunction; in order for the defendant to resume further factory work, the company must propose, and be approved of, new procedures that strictly follow the enforced regulations that ensure the safe disposal of all chemical waste.

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

* Acute myelogenous leukemia occurs in adults and children. * Chronic lymphocytic leukemia onlye presented in adults of 50 years and older. There are no scientific proves of what causes leukemia in human beings however studies have detected that it might be produced by mutations of the DNA, radiation or cancerigenous substances. Since the cause is unknown there is no prevention method against leukemia therefore if symptoms are presented the patient should elaborate medical tests immediately because as all types of cancer leukemia is only treatable when diagnosed in its early stages.

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).

After, the doctor gives further treatments to help prevent the return of the signs and symptoms of the disease after an improvement. Most of patient with acute forms of leukemia can be cured today. It is one of the most curable forms of cancer. Chronic leukemia is detected through a routine blood test before symptoms appear. With this people may not need treatment right away if they are not having symptoms yet, the doctors monitor the disease until treatment is needed. Most of the time it cannot be cured, but it can be controlled.

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.

Research states, childhood leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells. It is the most common cancer within children, and it occurs when irregular white blood cells form in the bone marrow. These irregular white blood cells start to rapidly travel through the blood stream and crowd out healthy blood cells. When the white blood cells travel through the blood stream and crowd out healthy cells, it increases the risk for infection (“Childhood Leukemia”). While childhood leukemia can be very traumatic, there are still ways to help families cope with this cancer.

WBCs will be given in details. Which means the count of all types of white blood cells. This known as (CBC with differential).

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 is something that we hear about a lot. I believe that people do not understand exactly what leukemia is and how dangerous it can be, I chose this topic to try to help them understand. In this paper I will explain what leukemia is and what treatments you can choose from to treat the cancer.

Jack woke up one morning not feeling well. He felt very weak and could not get out of bed. His mother decided to take him to the doctors. The doctors took many tests to figure out what was making him feel that way. After about an hour or two the doctors got the results back from a blood test. Results that would change Jack’s childhood for the worse. Jack has been diagnosed with Leukemia, a blood cancer. Of course, Jack was not sure what that meant but, his parents became worried beyond belief with the long road ahead of them. Scientists and researchers were all involved in the discovery of Leukemia cancer, which increased knowledge of this cancer, decreased deaths and discovered treatments, and started charity groups to fund research.

There are two types of leukemia in children; acute and chronic. Acute is fast growing leukemia. Within acute leukemia are three categories: acute lymphocytic (lymphoblastic) leukemia (ALL), acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), and hybrid or mixed lineage leukemia. Acute lymphocytic (lymphoblastic) leukemia (ALL) is the most common type of childhood leukemia and develop from early forms of lymphocytes, also known as white blood cells. Specifically, three out of four childhood leukemias are ALL (About Childhood Leukemia). Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) starts from the myeloid cells that create blood forming cells such as white blood cells (except for lymphocytes), red blood cells, and platelets (About Childhood Leukemia). Hybrid or mixed lineage leukemia are rare forms of childhood leukemia, but can be treated like ALL and AML. On the other end of the spectrum is chronic, or slow growing, leukemia. Chronic leukemia is difficult to treat and are more commonly found in adults than children. There are two types of chronic leukemia: chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is not commonly