Sami Sasala Brooke McVay Tiffany Vandiver Leukemia Sami Sasala Brooke McVay Tiffany Vandiver

What is it? A malignant progressive disease in which the bone marrow and other blood-flowing organs produce increased numbers of immature or abnormal leukocytes. These suppress the production of normal blood cells, leading to anemia and other symptoms.

What causes Leukemia? Is it inherited? Is it environmentally induced? The following factors increase your chance in getting leukemia: Smoking and tobacco use Being exposed to large amounts of radiation Being exposed to certain chemicals in the workplace Past chemotherapy or radiation for another cancer. (This is rare, and not all chemotherapies raise your leukemia risk.) Leukemia is not necessarily inherited, however, people with cancer is their families have a higher chance is getting it. Leukemia can be environmentally induced if exposed to radiation other harmful chemicals.

What effect does it have on the body? It weakens your immune system Causes you to bruise very easily Effects bone marrow- bone marrow stops producing white and red blood cells

Stages There are no stages classified for leukemia but there is a progression order to figure out treatment plans and how far it has spread. types of leukemia- acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) Adult child -untreated -standard(low) risk -remission -high -recurrent -recurrent Acute myeloid leukemia(AML)-whether it has spread outside blood or bone marrow chronic lymphocytic leukemia(LLL)- stages 0 to 4 chronic myelogenous leukemia(CML) chronic accelerated blastic relapsed

Treatment The treatment is based on many things such as age, type of leukemia,how far its spread and what the doctor prefers. most common treatments - Chemotherapy-uses chemicals to kill leukemia cells Radiation-uses X-ray with high energy to kill the cells and to prevent growth. Stem cell transplant -to replace bad cells with healthy cells.

How is it detected? signs-weak, frequent infection,unexplained fever,abnormal bruising or excessive bleeding,enlarged lymph nodes and headaches. medical tests- -blood test to check blood count -biopsy to sample od cells -spinal tap -ct scans -x-rays -MRI -ultrasound

Is there a cure? Chemotherapy- the use of drugs to fight cancer Radiation Therapy- uses high doses of radiation, such as X-Rays, to destroy cancer cells Stem Cell Transplant- donated cells from a "matched" donor can rebuild your supply of normal blood cells and your immune system Immunotherapy- uses your body's immune system, either directly or indirectly to fight cancer

Is there a way to prevent it? Ways to prevent Leukemia are: Do not smoke cigarettes Do not be exposed to benzene (classed as a hydrocarbon) Previous Chemotherapy or Radiation

Additional Information There are different types of Leukemia depending on how fast it spreads and what white blood cell it affects Chronic- gets worse slowly and may not cause symptoms for years. Acute- gets worse very fast and may make you feel sick right away. Lymphocytic- affects white blood cells called lymphocytes Myelogenous- affects white blood cells called myelocytes

Support Groups Team AICR (American Institute for Cancer Research) Alliance of Genetic Support Groups Inc. Cancer Plus- Parent Support Group

Sources http://www.cancercenter.com http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/leukemia http://cancer.about.com/od/leukemia/a/leukemiaprevent.htm http://www.medicinenet.com/leukemia/article.htm