Is leukemia treated or not? Diagnosis and treatment of leukemia

In the world there are many different diseases that people have faced not so long ago. In this article I want to answer the question of interest to many: whether leukemia is treated or not?

What it is?

At the very beginning you need to understand the concepts. So what is leukemia? This disease occurs when malignant tumors develop from blood cells. Most often they affect the organs of blood flow and hematopoiesis, as well as bone marrow, spleen and lymph nodes. This disease has several more names. So, doctors talk about the same thing, if it is a question of leukemia, leukemia, blood cancer or a germ.

Forms and types

More details need to consider a disease such as leukemia. The disease has two main forms of percolation.

1. Chronic form. In the early stages of the disease, symptoms are almost absent, at which time white blood cells still perform their functions. Most often this form of the disease is diagnosed during a routine examination or a routine physical examination. The disease in this case develops rather slowly, the symptoms begin to occur gradually.
2. The acute form. In this state, the blood cells do not fulfill their functions, the number of cancer cells is rapidly increasing.

What else is the classification of leukemia? It is also worth mentioning that there are two main types of leukemia - lymphoid and myeloid. In the first case, lymphoid cells are affected, in the second - myeloid.

Stages of

Separately, we need to consider the main stages of leukemia.

1. The initial. It is most often diagnosed in patients who suffer from anemia.
2. Expanded. There are already all the symptoms.
3. Remission. May be complete or incomplete. It is characterized by an increase in blast cells by a maximum of 5% in the bone marrow (in their absence in the blood).
4. Relapse. It can develop both in the bone marrow and in other organs. It is worth saying that every subsequent relapse is more dangerous than the previous one.
5. The last one. In this case, the patient develops ulcerative necrotic processes, as well as oppression of hematopoiesis.

Causes

Why can this disease occur? If a person has at least one blood cell that has mutated into a cancer cell, the disease can not be avoided. There is a fairly rapid division and distribution. And over time, such mutated cells take the place of normal, completely replacing them. Why can these chromosome mutations occur ?

1. Strong ionizing radiation.
2. The action of carcinogens on the body (this can also occur through certain medicines).
3. Hereditary factor (people have a genetic predisposition to this disease).
4. Viruses.

Symptomatics

Is it possible to independently diagnose leukemia, the decision of this diagnosis at home? No. This can only be done by a qualified physician on the basis of certain tests. However, the following symptoms may indicate the presence of the disease:

1. Weakness, fatigue.
2. Night sweat, fever.
3. Headache.
4. Pain in the joints, bones.
5. Bruises on the skin in different places. Also possible bleeding from the rectum or from the gums.
6. A person can often get sick with various infectious diseases.
7. Patients are also characterized by an increase in temperature to 38 ° C.
8. Lymph nodes in the groin, under the arms and on the neck can increase.
9. Also in patients there is a significant weight loss and loss of appetite.

It is also worth mentioning that the first symptoms that a patient can observe are very similar to a prolonged cold.

Diagnostics

What are the stages of the diagnosis of leukemia?

1. Medical examination. First of all, the doctor must examine the patient. In this case, the doctor will look for swollen lymph nodes. They are one of the indicators of this disease.
2. Collecting anamnesis. Also, the doctor must necessarily review the patient's medical history and ask whether there have been cases of the same illness in close relatives.
3. Blood test. This leukemia is treated or not - can say first of all the general analysis of human blood. The study is necessary in order to count the number of red and white blood cells. If the patient has leukemia, the number of white bodies increases significantly. This also lowers the platelet count and decreases the level of hemoglobin in the red blood cells.
4. Biopsy. This is one of the most important studies that can show whether there are cancer cells in the bone marrow. For this, it will be necessary to excise a piece of bone marrow tissue. Before the procedure, the patient will be given a local anesthetic, which will somewhat reduce the pain (the procedure itself is very painful). Next, the doctor will take a sample of bone tissue from the large bone (most often - the hip). It should be said that there are two types of this study: biopsy and puncture. The diagnosis will be made depending on whether there are cancer cells in the bone tissue.

Other studies

One of the very first and important studies is precisely the blood test for leukemia. However, this is often not enough. In this case, the patient may be assigned the following procedures:

1. Genetic tests. Specialists in this case will explore the chromosomes of atypical cells, in order to reveal a violation of their structure. In this case, you can determine the type of leukemia.
2. X-ray. This study is necessary in order to identify changes that have occurred in the lymph nodes. Also in this way, you can determine the presence of infection in the body.
3. Spinal puncture. Specialists in this study can determine whether the pathological process has begun in the fluid washing the brain and spinal cord.
4. Lymph node biopsy. This procedure is used rarely. It is only needed if there is no possibility to examine the bone marrow.

In general, about treatment

What can you answer the question: is leukemia treated or not? Certainly it is treated. However, it all depends on what kind of disease the patient has. Also, the choice of method of treatment will depend on the following indicators:

1. From the type of disease - chronic or acute.
2. From the age of the patient.
3. On whether there are cancer cells in the cerebrospinal fluid.
4. In some cases, the type of cancer cell is important.

The main methods used in the treatment of this disease:

1. Observation of the doctor.
2. Biotherapy.
3. Target therapy.
4. Chemotherapy.
5. Radiotherapy.
6. Stem cell transplantation.

If the patient has a greatly enlarged spleen, the doctor may recommend that she be removed. In the treatment of leukemia, one or several of the above methods can be used.

Chronic leukemia

As already mentioned above, one of the most important studies is a blood test for leukemia. So, thanks to him, you can identify this disease in its early stages (before the appearance of the first symptoms). What will the doctor do at the beginning? Until the symptoms are manifested, so-called vigilant observation will be performed. The patient should periodically show himself to the doctor and undergo certain studies. What kind of treatment for this form of the disease will be relevant?

1. It is very important to control the disease and fight against symptoms.
2. Chemotherapy in this case is practically useless treatment (it is needed only at the level of patient preparation for transplantation).
3. An excellent chance of recovery is provided by stem cell transplantation. However, this procedure is contraindicated for people over 50 years.

Acute leukemia

What kind of treatment can be prescribed for patients diagnosed with acute leukemia? The prognosis of life in this case is quite favorable, if we conduct timely and high-quality treatment. Otherwise, a person can die in a few months. What is acute leukemia? This is a malignant disease that affects the blood-forming organs and bone marrow. Leukocytes are also produced in large numbers in this disease, platelets and healthy blood cells are found in small numbers. This entails various types of bleeding, anemia, and frequent infection of the patient. If the patient has acute bone marrow leukemia, what kind of treatment will be relevant?

1. Specific chemotherapy. Without fail, it will consist of several stages.
2. Accompanying therapy. Need to fight infections, to reduce side effects after chemotherapy.
3. Substitution therapy. It will be necessary in the event that the patient is threatened with severe anemia, thrombocytopenia, and clotting of blood.
4. Stem cell transplantation.

Forecast

It's time to answer the question about leukemia in figures: is this disease being treated or not?

1. Acute lymphatic leukemia. The prognosis is pretty good, especially in children. Almost 95% have a remission. Approximately 70-80% of patients do not have a disease return for 5 years (in which case a person is considered cured). If the patient has a second remission, and they are candidates for transplantation, the percentage of recovery is 35-65%.
2. Myeloblast acute leukemia. The prognosis of life in this case is not too favorable. Approximately 75% of patients achieve remission, about 25% of patients die (after one and a half years of good treatment). In young patients who underwent transplantation, in half the cases a long-term remission develops.

Prevention

Since the most dangerous cause of this disease is a strong ionizing radiation, people should try to be as small as possible in such places. Particularly dangerous is the place of residence near the constant impact of such rays. Also it is necessary to avoid contact with various kinds of chemicals to the maximum. If the patient has a genetic predisposition to the disease, in this case, as often as possible, to conduct examinations to exclude the occurrence of this disease or to identify it at an early stage (when a complete cure is still possible).