Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

Question 1

Who gets ALL?

Answer 1

ALL is the most common childhood malignancy, with males aged 2-5 affected most. 75% of cases are in under 6s.

Question 2

ALL symptoms?

Answer 2

Anaemia- pale, lethargic
Thrombocytopenia- easy bruising, petechiae,
Neutropenia- frequent infections

Bone pain, splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, lymphadenopathy.
CNS involvement more common in ALL than AML.

Question 3

ALL blood results?

Bone marrow aspirate and trephine?

Answer 3

Normocytic anaemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, leukocytosis- WBC count >20 at diagnosis is a poor prognostic factor. Low reticulocytes.
Abnormal lymphoblasts, also seen in peripheral blood smear.

Question 4

ALL management?

Answer 4

Chemotherapy e.g. cytarabine, daunorubicin, and immunotherapy.
Stem cell transplant.