Cancer is a general term for a large group of diseases. These diseases are caused by the uncontrolled division of abnormal cells. Cancer is a malignant tumor that is invasive and can spread via the bloodstream throughout the body, this is known as metastasis. In the cell cycle of a normal cell, there are two main components involving different phases that the cell goes through. There is interphase where the cell gets ready to divide and there’s the mitotic phase, where the cell actually divides and DNA replication takes place. There are three types of genes involved in the cell cycle: the tumor suppressor gene, proto-oncogene and DNA repair gene. The mutation of these genes can cause cancer to develop in the body. First there’s the
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One of them is leukemia, which is when blood-forming organs, such as bone marrow, produce increased numbers of abnormal and immature white blood cells (leukocytes). There are four main types of Leukemia: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). These different types of cancers affect patients differently and are treated differently as well. The chronic leukemias progress slowly compared to acute leukemias even without treatment. Leukemia can be diagnosed with physical exams, blood tests, and bone marrow tests. The physical exams consist of a doctor looking for physical signs of leukemia. For example, swelling of lymph nodes, enlargement of your liver and spleen and pale skin from anemia. A complete blood count (CBC) is a blood test used to diagnose leukemia. They allow doctors to determine if you have abnormal levels of platelets or white blood cells. There are two procedures that help diagnose leukemia. Bone marrow aspiration removes a liquid sample of cells from the marrow and the Bone marrow biopsy is the procedure where a sample of bone marrow is removed from your hip, sternum or thigh bone using a long, thin needle. These samples are used to look for leukemia cells, which can then be tested for certain characteristics that are used to determine your treatment options. People can get leukemia at any age, …show more content…
Chemotherapy is a drug treatment that uses chemicals to kill leukemia cells. These drugs may be injected directly into a vein or may come in a pill form. Unfortunately, cancer survival rates can be as low as 2.1% after receiving chemotherapy. Biological therapy (also known as immunotherapy) helps your immune system recognize and attack leukemia cells by using treatments. According to “health24”, 90% of the patients that undergo biological therapy are cured or in remission. Targeted therapy uses drugs that attack specific weaknesses within the cancer cell. A lot of these drugs are still being tested in clinical trials so we don’t know if these can cure leukemia. However targeted therapy manages the leukemia for longer period of time. X-rays are used in radiation therapy to damage leukemia cells and stop their growth. Radiation therapy does not specifically cure Leukemia, but it prepares the body for a bone marrow transplant. There are procedures that can replace diseased bone marrow with healthy bone marrow. These procedures are known as stem cell transplants. 62% percent of patients that undergo bone marrow transplants go through remission. There is no known method to prevent leukemia. The only thing one can do is to live a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables. One can also avoid exposure to
One of them is leukemia, which is when blood-forming organs, such as bone marrow, produce increased numbers of abnormal and immature white blood cells (leukocytes). There are four main types of Leukemia: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). These different types of cancers affect patients differently and are treated differently as well. The chronic leukemias progress slowly compared to acute leukemias even without treatment. Leukemia can be diagnosed with physical exams, blood tests, and bone marrow tests. The physical exams consist of a doctor looking for physical signs of leukemia. For example, swelling of lymph nodes, enlargement of your liver and spleen and pale skin from anemia. A complete blood count (CBC) is a blood test used to diagnose leukemia. They allow doctors to determine if you have abnormal levels of platelets or white blood cells. There are two procedures that help diagnose leukemia. Bone marrow aspiration removes a liquid sample of cells from the marrow and the Bone marrow biopsy is the procedure where a sample of bone marrow is removed from your hip, sternum or thigh bone using a long, thin needle. These samples are used to look for leukemia cells, which can then be tested for certain characteristics that are used to determine your treatment options. People can get leukemia at any age, …show more content…
Chemotherapy is a drug treatment that uses chemicals to kill leukemia cells. These drugs may be injected directly into a vein or may come in a pill form. Unfortunately, cancer survival rates can be as low as 2.1% after receiving chemotherapy. Biological therapy (also known as immunotherapy) helps your immune system recognize and attack leukemia cells by using treatments. According to “health24”, 90% of the patients that undergo biological therapy are cured or in remission. Targeted therapy uses drugs that attack specific weaknesses within the cancer cell. A lot of these drugs are still being tested in clinical trials so we don’t know if these can cure leukemia. However targeted therapy manages the leukemia for longer period of time. X-rays are used in radiation therapy to damage leukemia cells and stop their growth. Radiation therapy does not specifically cure Leukemia, but it prepares the body for a bone marrow transplant. There are procedures that can replace diseased bone marrow with healthy bone marrow. These procedures are known as stem cell transplants. 62% percent of patients that undergo bone marrow transplants go through remission. There is no known method to prevent leukemia. The only thing one can do is to live a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables. One can also avoid exposure to