Matt Lovato (mlovato) wrote, @ 2003-08-06 13:21:00

Leukemia is cancer of blood-forming tissue such as bone marrow. Types of leukemia are grouped by the type of cell affected and by the rate of cell growth. Leukemia is either acute or chronic.

Acute leukemia involves an overgrowth of very immature blood cells. This condition is life-threatening because there are not enough mature blood cells to prevent anemia, infection and bleeding. A diagnosis of acute leukemia is made when there are 20 percent or more blasts or immature cells in the bone marrow.

Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) is a condition in which the bone marrow does not function normally and therefore does not produce enough normal blood cells. The blood cells affected are white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets. Some cases of MDS may, over time, progress to acute leukemia.

Chronic leukemia involves an overgrowth of mature blood cells. Usually, people with chronic leukemia have enough mature blood cells to prevent serious bleeding and infection.

The types of leukemia tend to be linked with certain age groups. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is most common during childhood and in early adulthood, although it is also diagnosed in adults 30 years old and older. Acute myelogenous leukemia occurs more often in adults. Chronic leukemia is more common between ages 40 and 70 and is rare among young people. MDS is most often found in patients nearing their 60s and 70s. However, there are always exceptions.

When your doctor is looking for a specific type of leukemia, he or she will look at chromosome number and appearance, features on the bone marrow cell surface and the appearance of the bone marrow cells under a microscope. The following is a list of the different types of leukemia.

Acute Leukemias

1. Acute Undifferentiated Leukemia
2. Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML)

Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia
Acute Myelomonocytic Leukemia
Acute Monocytic Leukemia
Acute Erythroleukemia
Acute Megakaryocytic Leukemia
3. Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)

T Cell
B Cell types (includes Burkitt’s leukemia/lymphoma)
Lymphoblastic Lymphoma
Myelodysplastic Syndromes

1. Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia
2. Refractory Anemia
3. Refractory Anemia with Ringed Sideroblasts
4. Refractory Anemia with Excess Blasts (RAEB)
5. Refractory Anemia with Excess Blasts in Transformation (RAEB-t)

Chronic Leukemias

1. Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)

Hairy Cell Leukemia
Mantle Zone Leukemia
Marginal Zone Leukemia
Splenic Lymphoma
2. Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML)
3. Myeloproliferative Syndromes

Polycythemia
Essential Thrombocytosis
Myelofibrosis

... nice to know

	brody_arms 2003-08-06 17:56 (link)
	Yep...scary thing is... (I) have Anemia. So Ew, doctors are pains in the asses. Always freaking out cause it can turn into something like this. That sucks :/ Bah. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	gwen_stefanix 2003-08-08 09:05 (link)
	hmm interesting (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)