Leukaemia .1 Flashcards
What is neutropenia?
Deficiencies of WBCs
What is leukaemia?
An uncontrolled growth of one WBC in the bone marrow.
What happens to the bone marrow and other cells during leukaemia.
There is bone marrow failure (from over crowding) and a decrease in RBC, Platelet, and other WBC count
What is infectious mononucleosis?
Infection of B cells by Epstein-Barr virus causing proliferation of lymphocytes and an increased WBC count (glandular fever)
What are the four classed of leukaemia?
AML - Acute Myeloid leukaemia
ALL- Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
CML - Chronic myeloid leukaemia
CLL - Chronic lymphoid leukaemia
What is acute and chronic leukemia?
Acute leukaemia is many immature WBCs and Chronic leukaemia is many maturing or mature WBCs
What is a characteristic of acute leukaemia and why is this strange?
> 20% blast cells in the blood
Blast cells are immature WBCs and aren’t usually found in the peripheral blood (they are large with no nucleus)
What are the common causes of leukaemia?
Cause of leukaemia is usually unknown, it can occasionally arise from chemicals, radiation or genetics.
Overcrowding of the bone marrow causes what?
Anaemia = SOB, fatigue Leukopenia = recurrent infections Thrombocytopenia = bleeding
Symptoms of leukaemia
Weight loss, fever, frequent infections, fatigue, loss of appetite, easy SOB, lymph node swelling, muscular weakness, spleen and/or liver enlargement, bones or joint pain or tenderness, Night sweats, easy bleeding and bruising, purplish patches or spots
How is leukaemia diagnosed?
Full blood count - showing an increase in affected WBC type and a decrease in other WBC types, RBCs and platelets
Bone marrow biopsy - showing an increase in immature WBCs
Histology if WBCs - showing possibly enlarged nuclei (immature blast cells)
What treatments are there for leukaemia?
Chemotherapy and Bone marrow transplant
