Statistics General leukemia Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia ALL Acute Myelogenous Leukemia AML Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia CLL Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia CML

							Leukemia
  By : Nick Payne
   Brian Saxton
  Jesse Hedricks
   The
Background
             What is cancer?
   Cancer is the general name for a group of
    more than 100 diseases in which cells in a
    part of the body begin to grow out of control.

   Cancer cells develop because of damage to
    the DNA.

   DNA gets damaged by things in the
    environment, exposure to chemicals, viruses,
    tobacco smoke or too much sunlight.
                 Leukemia
   Leukemia is the cancer of bone marrow, the
    soft, spongy center of the bone which
    produces blood cells

   In most cases of leukemia, the bone marrow
    produces too many immature white blood
    cells called blasts that are abnormally
    shaped and cannot carry out their duties.
        Types of leukemia
 There are many types of leukemia, four main
                  types are:
 Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)
 Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML)
 Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
 Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML)
    How does it effect the body?
   The regular mature leukocytes can not
    reproduce and are replaced at the end of
    their lives. However, leukemic cells have the
    ability to reproduce but they don't have the
    ability to develop sufficiently to act like the
    normal leukocytes against infection. With the
    progress of Leukemia, the leukemic cells
    replace the regular leukocytes, leaving the
    patient completely vulnerable to infection.
    How does it effect the cell
            cycle?
 Normally, various cell cycle checkpoints function
  to halt progression into synthesis or mitotic phases
  until threshold level of growth signals is attained,
  after which cell division may proceed.
 In leukemia, mutations can cause an
  overabundance of growth signals, or a lack of
  reliance on inhibition signals, so that cells divide
  in an unregulated manner.
Statistics
             General leukemia
• Diagnosed 10 times more often in adults than in children.
• Leading cause of death by disease in children between the ages
of 1 and 14.
• Accounts for about 30% of cancer cases in children aged 0-15.
• Each year about 30,000 new cases of leukemia are diagnosed.
       Acute Lymphoblastic
         Leukemia (ALL)
 Most common type in young children.
 Does effect adults.
 1,460 people will die of ALL in the next
  year.
 3 out of 4 of these deaths will be in adults.
Acute Myelogenous Leukemia
           (AML)
 12,000 new cases of leukemia each year.
 Occurs in both adults and children.
 Most patients will be adults.
 8,820 deaths per year (US 2008)
       Chronic Lymphocytic
         Leukemia (CLL)
 CLL is responsible for about 9,700 new
  cases of leukemia each year. Most often,
  people diagnosed with the disease are older
  than 55. It almost never affects children.
 15,110 new cases (US 2008)
 4,390 people will die ( US 2008)
 Accounts for 1-3 of all leukemia.
      Chronic Myelogenous
        Leukemia (CML)
 4,830 new cases of CML (US, 2008)
 450 people will die of CML (US, 2008)
 CML accounts for about 10% to 15% of all
  leukemia.
 Risk 1 in 500.
Treatment
             Chemotherapy
 Chemotherapy is the major form of treatment for
  leukemia.
 This treatment uses chemical agents to kill
  leukemia cells. Depending on the type of leukemia
  you have, you may receive a single drug or a
  combination of one or more drugs.
 These drugs may come in a pill form, or they may
  be injected directly into a vein.
             Drug (ATRA)
 Arsenic Trioxide and all-trans retinoic acid
  (ATRA) are anti-cancer drugs that doctors
  can use alone.
 These drugs cause leukemia cells with a
  specific gene mutation to mature and die.
         Radiation Therapy
 Uses X-rays or other high-energy rays to
  damage leukemia cells and stop their
  growth.
 May be concentrated to one area, or to
  whole body.
    Bone Marrow Transplant
 Replaces leukemic bone marrow with
  leukemic-free marrow.
 High doses of chemotherapy or radiation
  are used to destroy your bone marrow.
 This marrow is then replaced with other
  bone marrow.
       Stem Cell Transplant
 The SCT procedure enables physicians to
  give chemotherapy and radiotherapy in
  doses that are strong enough to eliminate
  leukemia cells.
 The injured bone marrow then is
  replenished by a transplant of stem cells,
  which can manufacture the necessary new
  blood cells.
               References
• Leukemia Research Foundation : www.livingwithleukemia.org
• Revolution Health : www.revolutionhealth.com
• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society : www.leukemia-
lymphoma.org
• American Cancer Society : www.cancer.org
• HealthAtoZ : www.healthatoz.com
• Oncology Channel : www.oncologychannel.com
• Mayo Clinic : www.mayoclinic.com