Blood is pumped around your body to provide oxygen and nutrients to your tissues, and to remove waste products. It is made up of blood cells carried in a clear fluid called plasma. All blood cells live for a limited time and need to be continually replaced.
Most are made in the bone marrow, which is the spongy part in the centre of the bones. Bone marrow contains blood stem cells. These are unspecialised cells that usually grow into one of the three main types of blood cells: red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets.
Each type of blood cell has a specific job to do. When myeloid white blood cells grow abnormally this is called acute myeloid leukaemia and when lymphoid white blood cells grow abnormally this is called acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. The lymphatic system is part of the immune system, which protects the body against disease and infection. It is a network of vessels, tissues and organs. Lymph vessels — These thin tubes are found throughout the body. They carry lymph fluid. Lymph fluid — This clear fluid travels to and from the tissues in the body, carrying nutrients and taking away bacteria, viruses, abnormal cells and cell debris.
Lymph nodes — These are small structures in the neck, underarms, chest, abdomen and groin. They filter toxins, help fight infections, and produce some blood cells. Spleen — This is an organ in the abdomen. It clears out old or damaged blood cells. Download PDF kB. View all publications or call 13 11 20 for free printed copies. Coping with cancer? Speak to a health professional or to someone who has been there, or find a support group or forum.
Looking for transport, accommodation or home help? A clinical trial is a research study in which physicians find ways to improve cancer treatment. The goals of these studies are to answer scientific questions about preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer.
Phase I — This is a first study done on a drug to test its safeness, to determine the right dose, and to determine when and how to give the drug. These studies usually are limited to a small number of patients. Phase II — As in Phase I, this phase also tests the safety of a drug, but the trial also tests how well the drug works to treat different types of cancers.
Phase III — This phase of a clinical trial studies various drugs, usually in combination, against standard therapy. These studies enroll large numbers of patients at many different cancer centers. Cancer treatment has improved greatly over the past several decades due to the use of clinical trials.
If you are asked to participate in a clinical trial, the physician will review the study and consent form with you and answer your questions. You will receive a pamphlet with more detailed information about clinical trials to help you make a decision. View Available Clinical Trials. Read one Nationwide Children's Hospital employee's journey with her daughter, Hailey's, leukemia. We all have our own reasons for being in health care. I was diagnosed with high risk B acute lymphoblastic leukemia at 11 years old.
Children requiring a bone marrow transplant are referred to a pediatric transplant center. Such centers have experience performing transplants and caring for children, adolescents and young adults after they receive a bone marrow transplant. Skip to Content. Urgent Care. In This Section. Leukemia Although childhood cancer is rare, leukemia is the most common form. Chronic myeloid leukemia CML , also known as chronic myelogenous leukemia, begins in the blood-forming cells of the bone marrow and then, over time, spreads to the blood.
Eventually, the disease spreads to other areas of the body. CML is slow-growing, but once it starts causing symptoms, these may include fatigue, fever, weight loss and an enlarged spleen. Around half of CML cases are diagnosed by a blood test before symptoms have begun.
Among the many different types of leukemia, some are less common than others. Three rarer leukemia types—prolymphocytic leukemia PLL , large granular lymphocyte leukemia LGL and hairy cell leukemia HCL —share some of the same characteristics as lymphocytic leukemias and are sometimes considered subtypes of chronic or acute lymphocytic leukemia CLL and ALL.
Myelodysplastic syndromes are conditions related to leukemia that are also rare. If it causes symptoms, they may be similar to other types of leukemia flu-like symptoms, easy bruising, unexplained weight loss.
Diagnosis may include blood tests as well as bone marrow aspiration and biopsy. However, relapse is common. Large granular lymphocytic LGL leukemia is a chronic type of leukemia that causes the body to produce abnormally large lymphocytes. By the time patients are diagnosed with this condition, symptoms tend to be present and include flu-like symptoms, frequent infections and unexplained weight loss.
People with autoimmune diseases tend to be more at risk for developing LGL. Diagnosis may include blood tests and bone marrow aspiration and biopsy.
Most patients require treatment shortly after diagnosis, which may include drugs that suppress the immune system. Others may be able to hold off on treatment to see whether problems arise. HCL is caused when bone marrow makes too many B cells lymphocytes , a type of white blood cell that fights infection. As the number of leukemia cells increases, fewer healthy white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets are produced.
Under a microscope, HCL cells appear to have thin, hair-like outgrowths. Symptoms of HCL may be similar to other types of leukemia and resemble the flu. Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy and blood tests are the primary diagnostic tools.
When complications related to HCL do occur—such as low blood cell counts, frequent infections or lymph node swelling—chemotherapy is typically used. Myelodysplastic syndromes MDS are a group of closely related diseases in which the bone marrow produces too few functioning red blood cells which carry oxygen , white blood cells which fight infection , or platelets which prevent or stop bleeding , or any combination of the three.
The different types of myelodysplastic syndromes are diagnosed based on certain changes in the blood cells and bone marrow.
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