1. Leukemia
By: Kalpana Ganeshan

2. What is Leukemia?

3. Leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells.

4. The word Leukemia comes from the Greek word leukos which means "white" and aima which means "blood".

5. It is also the most common type of blood cancer.

6. What are the
different types of Leukemia?

8. Acute Leukemia-
rapidly growing
Chronic Leukemia-
Slowly developing

10. How does
Leukemia harm you?

11. Leukemia
starts in the bone marrow

12. So to get a better
understanding of
leukemia, let's talk
about the bone marrow first.

13. The Bone Marrow is
soft material in the
center of most bones
where blood cells are formed (white and red blood cells, platelets).

14. Red Blood cells help carry oxygen to the rest of the body
White Blood Cells help your body fight infections
Platelets help with clotting (when you bleed)

15. So what happens
when you have
Leukemia?

16. In Leukemia, the Bone Marrow produces large numbers of
abnormal blood cells.

17. These abnormal cells look different, and don't function properly.

18. This causes lots of problems:
- difficulty fighting infection
- bleed and bruise easily
- bleed a lot when injured
- tiredness (due to decrease in oxygen supply)

19. It may also affect
the liver and spleen.

20. Symptoms of
Leukemia

21. Chronic Leukemia-no symptoms.
Usually detected during a routine
blood test.
Acute Leukemia- may have one or
more of the following Symptoms:
sickness, headaches, vomiting,
confusion, loss of muscle control,
or seizures.

22. Treatment for
Leukemia
(treatment may vary by type and severity)

23. Watchful waiting:
- Only available for people
with Chronic Leukemias who
haven't experienced
symptoms yet
- you have regular checkups
and wait it out

24. Chemotherapy
- Uses high doses of drugs
to destroy leukemia
- Has many side effects and
may kill normal cells as
well

25. Biological therapy:
- The usage of drugs that
improve body’s natural
defense against the disease

26. Radiation therapy
- Uses high-energy rays to
kill leukemia cells
- Lots of side affects and may
kill normal cells as well

27. Stem cell transplant
- After destroying cancer
cells, infuse blood-forming
stem cells into the body
(either from yourself or a
matching donor)

28. Survival rates

29. Children:
ALL- 90%
AML- less than 40%
CLL- Not available
CML- 70%

30. Adults:
AML-40%
ALL-35%
CML-90%
CLL- 82%

31. Sources:
-"KidsHealth." Leukemia. N.p., n.d.
Web. 10 Aug
-Nordqvist, Christian. "What Is
Leukemia? What Causes
Leukemia?" Medical News Today.
MediLexicon International,
17 Mar Web. 111 Aug. 2013
- "National Cancer Institute." Leukemia
Home Page -. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Aug

32. The End
Thank you for
watching!