13. An Introduction To Heamatological Malignancies Flashcards
Who gets blood cancers?
Blood cancers account for around 10% of all cancer
They occur in all age group, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in children
Adult males are more commonly affected than males
More common in spring time
How do heamatological malignancies affect each age groups?
Peaks around 20’s and peaks again 70’s +
How do heamatological malignancies arise?
Multi step process
Acquired genetic alteration in a long lived cell
Proliferation/survival advantage to that mutated cel
This produces a malignant clone
Malignant come grows to dominance the issue e.g. bone marrow or lymph nodes
What is monoclonal b lymhpcytosis
A precursor disease to lymphocytic leukaemia
How do stem cells not run out?
Stem cell self renewal, the daughter cells of multipotemt heamatopietc cells, one becomes a stem cell again and the other goes on and becomes a blood cell
What are myeloid malignancies?
Disease of myeloid cells: red blood cells, platelets, monocytes and granulocytes
What are lymphoid malignancies?
Cancer of B and T cells
What happens if blast cells fail in the myeloid lineage leading to no differentiation?
Acute myeoloid leukaemia
What happens if there is maintained proliferation and differentiation is maintained
Lots of myeloid cells leading to myoprololiferativd disorders,
Chronic myeloid leukaemia
Essential thrombocytopenia
What is ALL
Acute lymphoblastic leakuekmia…..
What are the mature malignancies?
Mutational events occur in more mature lymphoid cells, in mature germinal centres.
E.g. CLL, ……
What is the difference between leukaemia and lymphoma?
Leukaemia- disease distributes in the bone marrow/blood
Lymphoma- disease distributed in the lymph nodes/ secondary lymph tissues
What is the commonest leukaemia seen?
Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia- presents on routine blood processes with raised blood count or raised lymphs
What is acute leaukemia?
Leukaemia cells don’t differentiate
Caused by bone marrow failure
Rapidly fatal if untreated
Potentially curable e.g. acute lymphoblastic leaukemia, good prognosis when acute myeloid leukaemia treated with chemo
What is chronic leukaemia?
Leaukemic cells retain ability to differentiate
Proliferation without bone marrow failure
Survival for few years
Potentially curable with modern therapy (tyrosine kinase inhibitors in CML)
