blood cancer | Leukemias (Blood CANCER

Leukemias (Blood CANCER

Every year in Switzerland there are some 970 new cases of leukemia (blood cancer), which accounts for about 2.5% of all cancer diseases. Men are slightly more affected than women (57% versus 43%). Almost half of the patients are 70 years and older at the time of diagnosis. With almost a third of all cases, leukemia is the most common cancer in children.

Diagnosis
To make the diagnosis, it is necessary to analyze very precisely the blood and the bone marrow, which requires in particular a bone marrow removal under local anesthesia.

Treatment
The treatment is chosen according to the type of leukemia and the stage of the disease. Each form of leukemia requires a specific treatment mode. The main therapeutic methods are:

Drug treatments: chemotherapy, high-dose chemotherapy, targeted therapies, antibody therapy;
Blood stem cell grafts. We make the distinction between:
Autografts (cells come from the patient itself);
Allografts (cells come from a compatible donor);
Radiation therapy
These treatments are applied alone or in association with each other; In principle, they are not set up at the same time, but one after the other.

Some forms of chronic leukemia do not require immediate treatment. It is enough to carry out regular checks to monitor the evolution of the disease. We're talking about active surveillance. A treatment is only put in place when leukemia causes disorders.

Introduction
Leukemias are formed from precursors of white blood cells (leukocytes):

Lymphoid or lymphoblastic leukemias develop from the precursors of lymphocytes.
Myeloid or myéloblastiques leukemias develop from precursors of granulocytes, more rarely red blood cells or platelets.
They can be acute or chronic:
Acute leukemias evolve rapidly and need to be treated immediately.
Chronic leukemias are progressing more slowly.
In summary, there are therefore acute lymphoid (LAL) or myeloid leukemias (LAM), and chronic lymphoid (LCL) or myeloid leukemias (LCM).

Risk Factors
Certain factors and life circumstances may increase the risk of leukemia, without triggering the disease in all the persons concerned:

Repeated or sustained exposure to chemicals (e.g., benzene, formaldehyde), drug substances (e.g., cytostatic) or ionizing radiation (X-rays);
Previous therapies: In rare cases, people treated with chemotherapy or radiotherapy for another cancer later develop leukemia (so-called secondary leukemias);
Genetic factors, even if their role remains blurred; The risk of developing leukemia may be slightly increased in families affected several times by this cancer;
Down syndrome.
Symptoms
The cancer cells are multiplying in an uncontrolled way. They take the place of healthy blood cells and spread throughout the body, resulting in the following disorders:

Anemia: Fatigue, pallor, respiratory distress;

Bleeding tendency: bruises, nosebleeds and gums, prolonged bleeding in case of injury;

Susceptibility to infectious diseases: fever, inflammation of the skin or mucous membranes.

Other symptoms may occur in affected organs, such as swollen lymph nodes, painful tightness in the liver and spleen, or bone pain.

Glossary

Leukemia: Blood cancer or hematologic cancer; blood cell cancer.

Bone marrow: tissue located in many bones: the various cells of the blood are made in the marrow (white and red blood cells, platelets).

Anemia: disease affecting the quality or quantity of red blood cells in the blood (cf. "Hemoglobin").

Lymph nodes: Lymphatic organs forming part of the lymphatic system; More or less the size of a bean, they are arranged along the lymphatic vessels.

Local anesthesia: analgesia and local paralysis without narco, so without loss of consciousness.

Chemotherapy: Treatment of infectious and cancerous diseases with drugs that kill pathogens or cancer cells; This term most commonly refers to the treatment of cancerous diseases by cytostatic; Depending on the objective, it is referred to as curative, palliative, adjuvant or neo-adjuvant chemotherapy.

Transplantation: transplant; Transfer of cells, tissues or organ parts from a donor to a recipient, e.g. blood transplantation, marrow transplantation, skin transplantation.

For more information

More information, as well as brochures on leukemias are available on the website of the Swiss League Against Cancer (several languages available).