Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia Flashcards
What cytogenic change is characteristic of chronic myeloid leukaemia?
Philadelphia chromosome
What is the translocation of the genes between?
Chromosome 9 and 22: it is a t(9:22) translocation.
What is the name of the fusion gene on the Philadelphia chromosome ?
BCR-ABL
How many phases are there of chronic myeloid leukaemia?
Three phases
What are the three phases of chronic myeloid leukaemia?
- The chronic phase
- The accelerated phase
- The blast phase.
How long does the chronic phase last?
Around 5 years
How does a person in the chronic phase present?
Asymptomatically
How are patients usually diagnosed in the chronic phase?
Incidentally with a raised white cell count
What occurs in the accelerated phase?
Abnormal blast cells take up a high proportion of the cells in the bone marrow and blood
What happens to the patient in the accelerated phase?
They become more symptomatic
They become immunocompromised
What symptoms do patients develop in the accelerated phase?
Anaemia
Thrombocytopenia
What does the blast phase cause in the blood?
A high proportion of blast cells
How does the patient present in the blast phase?
More severe symptoms
Pancytopenia (deficiency of RBC, WBC and platelets)
How is the blast phase described?
Fatal
How is chronic myeloid leukaemia normally diagnosed?
Blood test
Bone marrow biopsy
