Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Essay

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia is also called acute lymphoid leukemia and acute lymphocytic leukemia, is a blood cancer that results in immature white cells in the bone marrow. It progresses rapidly and replacing the healthy white cells with immature white cells (leukemia cells). In ALL, leukemia cells are rapidly reproducing which then starts to spread to other parts of the body brain, spinal cord, liver, spleen, and lymph nodes. They are associated with producing more B cells than T cells and affects children under 15 years old and adults over 45 years old. Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia is most common children’s leukemia under age of 15 years old, especially children from age two to four. However, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia can occur at any age. A family history and exposure to radiation puts a high risk of ALL. Leukemia cells are unable to fight infection as the white blood cells do which leads to infections, anemia, and easy bleeding. Symptoms of ALL includes feeling tired, weakness, fever, easily bruising and bleeding, weight loss and loss of appetite, pain in the stomach and/ or bones, painless lumps in the neck, underarm, groin, and stomach. The morphology of lymphoblast cells have round-oval nucleus with coarse chromatin, small nucleoli, cytoplasm is basophilic and spares in volume. Auer rods are never present in ALL. There are three FAB classifications of ALL subtype based on the cells under …show more content…
There are steps of All’s chemotherapy starts with induction chemotherapy which is used in combination with drugs that destroys leukemia cells and bring blood cells count to normal. Consolidation chemotherapy is the next treatment followed to destroy any remaining leukemia cells in blood and bone marrow. Maintenance chemotherapy which is less intensive chemotherapy which helps minimize the risk of disease recurring after treatment is