HealthInfo Canterbury

Leukaemia

 

Leukaemia is the name for some blood-related types of cancer that develop in the bone marrow.

Normally, young blood cells (blast cells) develop healthily in your bone marrow. When they are mature they become either red cells, white cells, or platelets, and travel into the bloodstream.

Leukaemia happens when, instead of developing normally, these cells grow and multiply in an uncontrolled way. They stop blood cells working properly in the bloodstream.

Types of leukaemia

Leukaemia can be either acute or chronic.

• In acute leukaemia blood cells don't mature properly. The disease develops and progresses quickly and needs to be treated right away.
• In chronic leukaemia there are too many abnormal white cells in your blood. You can get it at any age but it's more common in older people and rare in children.

Leukaemia can also be either myeloid or lymphoid.

• Myeloid leukaemia starts in cells that should become platelets, red blood cells, granulocytes and monocytes. It's also called myelocytic, myelogenous or granulocytic leukaemia.
• Lymphoid leukaemia starts in cells that should become lymphocytes (white blood cells). It's also called lymphoblastic, lymphocytic or lymphatic leukaemia.

Causes of leukaemia

We don't completely understand what causes leukaemia. Some people have a higher chance of getting leukaemia, but that doesn't mean you will definitely get it. If you are worried, talk to your doctor.

• Genetic: Children with Down syndrome or some similar, rare genetic conditions are more likely to get acute leukaemia. It's rare for there to be a genetic reason to get chronic leukaemia.
• Radiation: People exposed to intense radiation, such as an atomic bomb or radiation therapy, are more likely to get leukaemia.
• Chemicals: Workers exposed to the industrial chemical benzene are more likely to get acute leukaemia. Some drugs used in organ transplant patients and cancer treatments also increase the risk.
• Virus: The Human T-cell leukaemia virus (HTLV) can affect people who live in southwest Japan, parts of Africa and the Caribbean. But only a few people who have had this infection get leukaemia.

Symptoms of leukaemia

If you have leukaemia, you might have some of these symptoms because your blood doesn't have enough blood cells to work well. For example:

• fatigue (tiredness) and pale skin colour (too few red blood cells)
• repeated infections (too few or ineffective white blood cells)
• red skin blotches, bruising, nosebleeds and other bleeding (too few platelets).

These are also symptoms of many other diseases. In some types of leukaemia, there is no sign that you have it until it reaches an advanced stage.

Diagnosing leukaemia

Leukaemia is diagnosed using either a blood test or a bone marrow test (bone marrow biopsy).

In a blood test, the number of white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets are counted. The blood count is considered abnormal if there is:

• a low platelet count
• a low count of red blood cells
• a low count of mature white blood cells
• a high number of immature or prematurely released white blood cells (blasts).

A wide variety of tests are used to check your bone marrow, including microscopic analysis and bone marrow culture studies.

Treating leukaemia

Treatment depends on the individual patient and the type of leukaemia. It can include chemotherapy, radiation treatment and stem cell or bone marrow transplant.

The main aim of treatment is to get rid of the abnormal malignant cells, allowing the normal cells to grow in the bone marrow again.

  HealthInfo recommends the following pages

• Cancer Society NZ – Cancer support

  Information about support in your local community, benefits and entitlements, and care options.

• Healthpoint – Oncology

  Services around New Zealand that provide treatment for people with cancer.

• Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand:
  • Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)
  • Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)
  • Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL)
  • Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)
  • Information booklets – resources for adults and children in English, Māori, Chinese, Cook Islands Māori, Hindi, Korean, Niuean, Samoan and Tongan.

Content shared between HealthInfo Canterbury, KidsHealth and Health Navigator NZ as part of a National Health Content Hub collaborative. Page created May 2020.

Page reference: 706101

Review key: HILEU-52883