Cancer Project: Leukemia
By: Kaleb Owen, Dawson Pell, Kensie Shaft
Defintions
Symptoms
Whole body: chills, dizziness, fatigue, fever, nausea, night sweats, weakness, or sweating
Gastrointestinal: blood in stool or diarrhea
Skin: rashes or red spots
Also common: bleeding, easy bruising, headache, mouth ulcer, nosebleed, pallor, shortness of breath, swelling, swollen lymph nodes, or unintentional weight loss
Causes of Leukemia
Treatments
Treatment decisions are based on the kind of Leukemia you have, its stage, and your age and general health. There are 3 types of therapies Induction, Consolidation, and Maintenance.
Induction Therapy- kills leukemia cells in the blood and bone marrow to induce remission. Treatments include chemotherapy and corticosteroids. Lasts about 4 weeks in the hospital.
Consolidation Therapy- kills any leukemia cells that may be present but not shown in tests. Treatments include more chemotherapy and may also include stem cell transplant. Takes several months but not in the hospital.
Maintenance Therapy- prevents any leukemia cells from growing. Treatments include lower doses of chemotherapy. Usually lasts up to 3 years, but people can be as active as they were before beginning treatment.
Diagnosis
Diagnosis's Include:
Physical Exam- doctors will look for physical signs of leukemia.
Blood Tests- the doctor will take blood and look for abnormal levels of white blood cells or platelets.
Bone Marrow Test- your doctor will recommend a procedure to take bone marrow out of the hipbone, from there the sample will be taken to a laboratory to be looked at.
Frequency in population
New Information Found
Leukemia is a cancer of the early blood-forming cells. Most often, leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells, but some leukemias start in other blood cell types. Leukemia is often described as being either acute (fast growing) or chronic (slow growing). Different types of leukemia have different treatment options and outlooks.