Acute Leukemia Flashcards
What is leukemia?
a group of heterogenous disorders characterized by the accumulation of malignat white cells in the bone marrow and blood.
Do leukemias cause mortality if so why?
yes!
- BM failure- anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia
- inflitrations of organs (liver, spleen, lymph nodes, meninges, brain, skin or testes)
What are the classifications of acute myeloid leukemia?
M0-M7
What are the lymphoblastic leukemia classifications?
L1-L3
What is the most common form of leukemia in children?
ALL
- its incidence is higest at age 3-7 yrs
- falling off by 10yrs and then a secondary rise by age 40yrs
When is AML most present?
in all age groups
What is the most common form of acute leukemia in adults?
AML- it is increasingly common with age
What are the two distinctions groups of AML?
primary AML Secondary AML (more difficult to treat)
What is the etiology of Acute leukemia?
- idiopathic vast majority
- prior chemotherapy
- prior radiotherapy
- chemical exposure (benzene)
- Myelodysplastic syndromes (secondary AMLS)
- Myeloproliferative diseases
- Down’s Syndrome
- Fragile chromosome syndromes (Fanconi’s syndrome)
- Aplastic anemia and PNH
In acute leukemia how invasive is it?
aggressive diseases
-rapidly cause death if not treated
Where does the maligant transformation occur in acute leukemia?
in hematopoetic stem cells or early progenitors
What are the genetic damages tha tlead to acute leukemia?
1) increased rate of proligeration
2) reduced apoptosis
3) block in cellular differentiation …. collectively these events result in accumulation of early BM hematopoietic cells known as blast cells
What is the hallmark of AL?
BM failure and infiltrations to other organs, preseance of Blast cells
What is the definition of acute leukemia?
the presence of over 20% of blast cells in blood of BM
-also diagnoses iwht <20% blasts if specific leukemia-associated cytogenetic or molecular genetic abnormalities are present
How are acute leukemias divided into AML or ALL?
based on whether blasts are myeloblasts or lymphoblasts
-this characterization of blasts is most often preformed by immunophenotyping– looking at pattern of antigen expression on surface of the last cells (flow cytometry)
