Leukemia is a type of cancer that develops within the spinal marrow. Within the spinal marrow is an immature type of blood cells that are referred to as stem cells. They are neutral in their initial state , but they later grow into various blood cells (white blood cells as well as red blood cells and platelets). Leukemia disrupts the process that is normal for maturing cells and results in the accumulation of blood cells within the bone marrow, blood, and later, within organs of the body. A majority of the resultant cells are not functioning inside the body since they’re unable to be used to perform the function of normal blood cells.
In relation to the rate of progression, the disease may be either acute leukemia (developing extremely rapidly) or chronic (slow development).
The most characteristic feature of severe leukemias is failure of stem cells (immature cells that are located in the bone marrow) to attain the stage of maturation. The immature blood cells tend to multiply continuously and are able to are able to accumulate in bloodstreams. Leukemia can develop very quickly and patients suffering from it require immediate treatment and a particular therapy. If ignored or treated incorrectly acute leukemia may cause the death of patients within a matter of months. Although certain types of acute leukemia can be effectively treated, other types do not respond well to particular treatment.
One characteristic characteristic of the chronic type of leukemia is that leukemic cells typically come from older cells, however, in the majority of cases they don’t develop normally. Leukemia cells live for long time frames and tend to accumulate in the bloodstream. Even though normal people are able to have between 5000 and 10,000 white blood cells within their bodies, people suffering from chronic leukemia could be carrying more than 10000.
Myelogenous and Lymphocytic forms of leukemia originate by different kinds of cells. The lymphocytic form of leukemia is formed from lymphoblasts or lymphocytes that reside in the spongy tissues of bones. In contrast, myelogenous types of leukemia (sometimes called myelocytic and myeloid leukemia) originates from myeloid cell. By the type of cell types involved in growth of leukemia as well as the rate of cell division that is specific to each type of leukemia, primary forms of leukemia are acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and chronic myelogenous lesions (CML) and acute lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) as well as chronic lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL).
Alongside the standard forms of chronic leukemia there are some unique forms. Leukemia of hairy cells (HCL) similar to chronic lymphocytic leukemia has an extremely slow course of progress. The hairy cells in leukemia differ from cancerous cells mostly due to their characteristics. Hairy cell leukemia isn’t a condition that can be responsive to therapy. Prolymphocytic leukemia is a rare and uncommon type of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Certain cancers, known as lymphomas, arise from abnormal blood cells located in lymph nodes, the liver and spleen as well as other organs. These specific kinds of cancers don’t happen at the level of the bone marrow, and exhibit characteristics that are not typical of all forms in lymphocytic Leukemia.