Is leukemia treated or not? Diagnosis and treatment of leukemia

In the world there are many different diseases that people have encountered not so long ago. In this article, I want to answer a question that interests many: is leukemia treated or not?

What it is?

At the very beginning, you need to understand the concepts. So what is leukemia? This is a disease when malignant tumors develop from blood cells. Most often, they affect the organs of blood flow and blood formation, as well as bone marrow, spleen and lymph nodes. This disease has several more names. So, doctors say the same thing when it comes to leukemia, leukemia, blood cancer, or white blood.

Forms and Types

In more detail, you need to consider a disease such as leukemia. This disease has two main forms of course.

1. Chronic form. In the early stages of the disease, the symptoms are practically absent, at this time the white blood cells still perform their functions. Most often, this form of the disease is diagnosed during the next examination or a planned physical examination. The disease in this case develops rather slowly, the symptoms begin to occur gradually.
2. Acute form. In this condition, the blood cells do not perform their functions, the number of cancer cells is rapidly increasing.

What else is the classification of leukemia? It is also worth mentioning that there are two main types of leukemia - lymphoid and myeloid. In the first case, lymphoid cells are affected, in the second - myeloid cells.

Stages

Separately, you need to consider the main stages of leukemia.

1. Initial. It is most often diagnosed in patients who suffer from anemia.
2. Expanded. There are already all the symptoms.
3. Remission. May be complete or incomplete. It is characterized by an increase in blast cells by a maximum of 5% in the bone marrow (if they are absent in the blood).
4. Relapse. It can develop both in the bone marrow and in other organs. It is worth saying that each subsequent relapse is more dangerous than the previous one.
5. The last one. In this case, the patient develops ulcerative necrotic processes, and hematopoiesis is also inhibited.

Causes

Why can this disease occur? If a person has at least one blood cell that has mutated into a cancerous one, disease cannot be avoided. Its fairly rapid division and distribution. And over time, such mutated cells take the place of normal ones, completely displacing them. Why can these chromosomal mutations occur ?

1. Strong ionizing radiation.
2. The effect of carcinogens on the body (this can also occur through certain medications).
3. Hereditary factor (people have a genetic predisposition to this disease).
4. Viruses.

Symptomatology

Is it possible to independently diagnose leukemia, making this diagnosis at home? No. Only a qualified doctor can do this on the basis of certain tests. However, the following symptoms may indicate the presence of a disease:

1. Weakness, tiredness.
2. Night sweat, fever.
3. Headache.
4. Pain in joints, bones.
5. Bruises on the skin in different places. Bleeding from the rectum or gums is also possible.
6. A person can often suffer from various infectious diseases.
7. For patients, a temperature increase to 38 ° C is also characteristic.
8. Lymph nodes in the groin, under the armpits, and on the neck can increase.
9. Patients also experience significant weight loss and loss of appetite.

It is also worth mentioning that the first symptoms that a patient may observe in themselves are very similar to a protracted cold.

Diagnostics

What are the stages of the diagnosis of leukemia?

1. Medical examination. First of all, the doctor should examine the patient. In this case, the doctor will look for swollen lymph nodes. They are one of the indicators of this disease.
2. History taking. Also, the doctor must necessarily look at the patient’s medical history and ask if close relatives have had the same disease.
3. Blood analysis. This leukemia is treated or not - it can be said first of all a general analysis of human blood. The study is necessary in order to calculate the number of red and white blood cells. If the patient has leukemia, the number of exactly white bodies increases significantly. At the same time, the platelet level decreases and the hemoglobin level in the red blood cells decreases.
4. Biopsy. This is one of the most important studies that can show if cancer cells are present in the bone marrow. To do this, it will be necessary to excise a piece of bone marrow tissue. Before the procedure itself, the patient will be given local anesthesia, which will slightly reduce pain (the procedure itself is very painful). Next, the doctor will take a sample of bone tissue from the large bone (most often - the hip). It is worth saying that there are two types of this study: biopsy and puncture. The diagnosis will be made depending on whether there are cancer cells in the bone tissue.

Other studies

One of the first and most important studies is a blood test for leukemia. However, this is often not enough. In this case, the patient may be assigned the following procedures:

1. Genetic tests. In this case, specialists will examine the chromosomes of atypical cells in order to identify a violation of their structure. In this case, you can determine the type of leukemia.
2. X-ray This study is necessary in order to identify changes that have occurred in the lymph nodes. Also in this way you can determine the presence of infection in the body.
3. Spinal puncture. Specialists in this study can determine whether a pathological process has begun in the fluid washing the brain and spinal cord.
4. Lymph node biopsy. This procedure is rarely used. It is needed only if it is not possible to examine the bone marrow.

General treatment

So what can answer the question: is leukemia treated or not? Of course it is treated. However, it all depends on what type of illness the patient has. Also, the choice of treatment method will depend on the following indicators:

1. The type of disease is chronic or acute.
2. From the age of the patient.
3. From whether there are cancer cells in the cerebrospinal fluid.
4. In some cases, the type of cancer cell is important.

The main methods that are used in the treatment of this disease:

1. Doctor's supervision.
2. Biotherapy
3. Targeted therapy.
4. Chemotherapy.
5. Radiotherapy.
6. Stem cell transplantation.

If the patient has a greatly enlarged spleen, the doctor may recommend removing it. In the treatment of leukemia, one or several of the above methods can be used.

Chronic leukemia

As mentioned above, one of the most important studies is a blood test for leukemia. So, thanks to him, it is possible to identify this disease in its early stages (before the onset of the first symptoms). What will the doctor do at the very beginning? Until symptoms appear, so-called watchful observation will be made. The patient should be periodically shown to the doctor and undergo certain studies. What treatment with this form of the disease will be relevant?

1. Disease control and symptom control are very important.
2. Chemotherapy in this case is an almost useless treatment (it is needed only at the level of preparation of the patient for transplantation).
3. An excellent chance of recovery is given by stem cell transplantation. However, this procedure is contraindicated for people over 50 years old.

Acute leukemia

What treatment can be prescribed for patients diagnosed with acute leukemia? The prognosis of life in this case is quite favorable if timely and high-quality treatment is carried out. Otherwise, a person may die in a few months. What is acute leukemia? This is a malignant disease that affects the blood-forming organs and bone marrow. Also, with this disease, white blood cells are produced in large numbers, in small - platelets and healthy blood cells. This entails various kinds of bleeding, anemia, as well as frequent infection of the patient. If the patient has acute bone marrow leukemia, what treatment will be relevant?

1. Specific chemotherapy. Without fail, it will consist of several stages.
2. Accompanying therapy. It is necessary to fight infections, to reduce side effects after chemotherapy.
3. Replacement therapy. It will be needed if the patient is threatened with severe anemia, thrombocytopenia, and blood clotting.
4. Stem cell transplantation.

Forecast

The time has come in numbers to answer the question about leukemia: is this disease being treated or not?

1. Acute lymphocytic leukemia. The prognosis is pretty good, especially in children. Nearly 95% are in remission. Approximately 70-80% of patients do not experience a return of the disease over 5 years (in this case, the person is considered cured). If the patient has repeated remission, and they are candidates for transplantation, the percentage of recovery is 35-65%.
2. Myeloblastic acute leukemia. The prognosis of life in this case is not too favorable. Approximately 75% of patients achieve remission, about 25% of patients die (after a year and a half of good treatment). In young patients who underwent transplantation, in half of cases, prolonged remission develops.

Prevention

Since the most dangerous cause of this disease is a strong ionizing radiation, people should try to be in such places as little as possible. Especially dangerous is a place of residence near the constant exposure to such rays. Also, maximum contact with various kinds of chemicals should be avoided. If the patient has a genetic predisposition to the disease, in this case it is necessary to undergo examinations as often as possible to exclude the occurrence of this disease or to identify it at an early stage (when complete cure is still possible).