16/06/2022
Leukemia is a blood cancer caused by a rise in the number of white blood cells in your body.
Those white blood cells crowd out the red blood cells and platelets that your body needs to be healthy. The extra white blood cells don’t work right.
Leukemia Symptoms
Different types of leukemia can cause different problems. You might not notice any signs in the early stages of some forms. When you do have symptoms, they may include:
Weakness or fatigue
Bruising or bleeding easily
Fever or chills
Infections that are severe or keep coming back
Pain in your bones or joints
Headaches
Vomiting
Seizures
Weight loss
Night sweats
Shortness of breath
Swollen lymph nodes or organs like your spleen
Leukemia Causes and Risk Factors
No one knows exactly what causes leukemia. People who have it have certain unusual chromosomes, but the chromosomes don’t cause leukemia.
You can’t prevent leukemia, but certain things may trigger it. You might have a higher risk if you:
*Smoke
*Are exposed to a lot of radiation or certain chemicals
*Had radiation therapy or chemotherapy to treat cancer
*Have a family history of leukemia
*Have a genetic disorder like Down syndrome.
Leukemia Treatments
The treatment you get depends on the type of leukemia you have, how far it’s spread, and how healthy you are. The main options are:
-Chemotherapy
-Radiation
-Biologic therapy
-Targeted therapy
-Stem cell transplant
-Surgery
Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells in your blood and bone marrow. You can get the medicine:
Through a shot into a vein or muscle
As a pill
Into the fluid around your spinal cord
Radiation uses high-energy X-rays to kill leukemia cells or keep them from growing. You can get it all over or in only one part of your body where there are a lot of cancer cells.
Biologic therapy, also called immunotherapy, helps your immune system find and attack cancer cells. Drugs like interleukins and interferon can help boost your body's natural defenses against leukemia.
Targeted therapy
