General Description
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) is slow-progressing or “chronic”, cancer of the blood and bone marrow. CLL is the second most common leukemia in adults and one of the four primary types of leukemia. Certain risk factors have been identified including age, race, sex, family history of blood and bone marrow cancers and chemical exposure. Most people diagnosed with CLL are white males over the age of 60. Occurrence increases with age and a marked increase after 60. Herbicides, insecticides and Agent Orange used in the Vietnam War have shown to increase the risk of developing CLL. There are approximately 15,000 new cases diagnosed each year.
Pathophysiology
The cause of CLL is unknown at this time but much research is being put into finding the cause. Since the cause is unknown, there is no way to prevent CLL. One recent study has identified skewed kappa-lambda free light chain ratio up to nine years prior to the onset of CLL. The National Institutes of Health has established that monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis results in higher risk of developing CLL.
95% of the genetic mutations resulting in CLL are in B-cells. The other 5% are in T- or NK-cells. These mutations result in abnormal lymphocytes (leukemic cells). As the cancer progresses from the blood to the marrow, the increased number of cancerous cells push healthy white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets out of the bone marrow. This “takeover” of the marrow can result in anemia, reduced ability to fight infection and easy bleeding. The increased rates of secondary infections are the result of decreased infection-fighting capacity of white blood cells.
Symptoms
A patient with CLL can go undiagnosed for year...
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...une disruption may lead to CLL. Hem/Onc Today , 23-23.
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It was the Christmas holiday season of 2013 and Uncle Sonny was healthy, happy, and full of vigor. Uncle Sonny was 58-year-old weighing 180 pounds and standing at a height of 5.10 inches. However, the family watched in utter desperation as Uncle Sonny’s body mass and height degenerate gradually to 92 pounds and 5.8 inches respectively. The most devastating scenario for the family was watching Uncle Sonny waste away on the hospital bed while looking hopeless and dull. The man who was full of energy and life was now a tired decrepit, with an expressionless demeanor. The doctor’s diagnosis was Hodgkin 's Lymphoma (HL), a form of cancer whose treatment affects the body’s ability to fight other infections. Despite the deleterious health effects of Hodgkin 's Lymphoma, early-stage and advanced Hodgkin 's Lymphoma is curable.
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...0’s cancer mortality rates have dramatically decreased from 10% to over 80% for leukemia. Overall decline in mortality for cancer was nearly 54% from 1978 to 2008 (National Cancer Institute, 2011). Decrease in mortality rates are due to improvements in cancer treatments. Recent advances in treatments are due to aggressive cancer therapies and collaboration of findings from clinical trials. More than 80 percent of patients are expected to be long term cancer survivors (National Cancer Institute, 2011).
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"What are the treatments for cancer?." A.D.A.M. Life's Greatest Mysteries. 2001. eLibrary. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.
Kanwar, V.S. (2013, Sep 16). Diseases & Conditions - Medscape Reference. Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Retrieved January 13, 2014, from http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/990113-overview#a0156