Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Research Papers

Six year old Estella was ecstatic to hear that she landed the role as Rapunzel in her school’s annual play. She dedicated herself to growing out her blonde hair until it extended down to her hips. During rehearsal, Estella tripped over a small prop, resulting to a small cut which bled excessively and uncontrollably. The very next day Estella combed her hair and noticed numerous strands of her long sleek hair falling out. Her bald spots became visible and she eventually had to shave off all her hair. Poor young Estella was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Approximately 3,100 children and young adults are diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) every year. ALL is a type of blood cancer originating in the bone marrow where …show more content…
Moreover, ALL progresses rapidly and spreads to vital organs and becomes very dangerous to the patient’s overall health (American Cancer Society). Ultimately, the two main treatments (chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplants) have inconsistent success rates in curing ALL. Over the past century, medical developments and techniques have significantly improved the current healthcare system. Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a historic action and approved gene therapy as a cancer treatment. In gene therapy, the human genome is reprogrammed by adding a specific protein. This specific protein alters the immune system and essentially tells the leukocytes (white blood cells) to attack the cancer cells. Obviously, being able to consistently treat and cure cancer with gene therapy will be a tremendous success for patients, doctors, and researchers. Using gene therapy as another possible treatment for ALL will be very advantageous; the immune system would be strengthened, higher remission rates, overall medical costs would be possible, and the possibility of saving a life would be