Leukemia
Lymphoma
Myeloma
Blood Diseases, Disorders & Syndromes
LEUKEMIA
Leukemia is a broad term for cancers of the blood cells. It starts in blood-forming tissue, such as your bone marrow, and causes large numbers of abnormal blood cells to be produced and enter your bloodstream. The type of leukemia depends on the type of blood cell that becomes cancer and whether it grows quickly or slowly. At Stony Brook Cancer Center, we treat the full spectrum of leukemia, including:
Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL)
ALL is an aggressive (fast-growing) cancer of the blood and bone marrow that affects white blood cells. While people of all ages develop ALL, a majority of new diagnoses are in people under age 20. It is the most common childhood cancer. It occurs when a bone marrow cell develops errors in its DNA. Symptoms may include enlarged lymph nodes, bruising, fever, bone pain, bleeding from the gums and frequent infections.
Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (also known as: Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML))
AML is the most common acute leukemia in adults. While pediatric patients can develop the disease, most diagnoses are in people over age 55. The median age of diagnosis is 68. As an acute leukemia, AML is aggressive and can be particularly difficult to treat. AML occurs when a myeloid stem cell becomes cancerous. In these cases, the myeloid stem cells produce diseased cells. These cells don’t do their job well and multiply so rapidly that they crowd out healthy cells. AML can severely weaken the patient’s immune system, leading to frequent infections. Most of these AML subtypes are based on how the diseased cells differ from healthy cells and how far along they are in the development process. Specific chromosome abnormalities in the cancer cells and the disease’s own genetic mutations also impact the prognosis.
Chronic Leukemia: (also known as: Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL))
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common chronic leukemia in adults. The average age at diagnosis is 72. The disease is twice as common in men as women. It is less aggressive than acute forms of leukemia. CLL develops from B cells. These start out as lymphoid stem cells, then mature into adult B cells. In CLL, a cancerous B cell grows and multiplies in the bone marrow, lymph nodes, liver and spleen and results in a high white blood cell count. These cancerous cells are not able to fight infection. They also crowd out healthy cells from the marrow, and cause enlargement of the lymph nodes, liver and spleen.
Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia: (also known as: Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML))
Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) primarily affects adults. About 68 percent of new cases are in people 55 or older, while the average age of diagnosis is 65. CML involves myeloid stem cells. When healthy, these cells form neutrophils, a type of mature white blood cell. In CML, the myeloid stem cells become cancerous. The myeloid stem cells may not fully mature and are poor at doing their jobs. They can eventually crowd healthy blood cells out of the bone marrow and cause a high white blood cell count and an enlarged spleen. As a chronic disease, CML is relatively slow to develop.