Week 3 - Haematology Flashcards
What is haemopoiesis?
The production of blood cells.
Where does haemopoiesis occur in the foetus, infants and adults?
Foetus - yolk sac, then liver and spleen, then bone marrow.
Infants - bone marrow (all bones).
Adults - bone marrow (ends of femurs, pelvis, sacrum, vertebrae, ribs, sternum, skull.) Think central skeleton.
Haemopoiesis begins with a pluripotent stem cell. This then differentiates into two different types of stem cells which give rise to all blood cells. What are the name of these two stem cells?
Myeloid stem cell and lymphoid stem cell.
What cells does the lymphoid stem cell go on to produce?
Lymphocytes, plasma cells, NK cells.
What cells does the myeloid stem cell go on to produce?
Erythrocytes, platelets, neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, monocytes, macrophages, mast cells
Name 4 characteristics of haemopoietic stem cells.
Ability to self-renew
Unspecialised
Ability to differentiate
Quiescent
In what 3 places can haemopoeitic stem cells be found?
Bone marrow, peripheral blood after treatment with G-CSF, umbilical cord blood.
What are the three possible fates of a haemopoietic stem cell?
Self-renewal, apoptosis, differentiation.
With regards to division of haemopoietic stem cells, what is assymetrical division? What is symmetrical division?
When the stem cell divides into one stem cell and one differentiated cell.
When the stem cell either self-renews to form two more stem cells or divides to from two differentiated cells.
Stroma is the bone marrow microenvironment which supports the developing haemopoietic cell. Which cells make up the stroma?
Macrophages, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, fat cells, reticulum cells.
Bone marrow stromal cells are supported by an extracellular matrix containing what 5 proteins?
Laminin, collagen, proteoglycans, fibronectin, haemonectin.
Name 3 heriditary conditions affecting bone marrow function.
Thalassaemia
Sickle cell anaemia
Fanconi anaemia
Name 3 acquired conditions affecting bone marrow function.
Leukaemia, metastatic malignancy, myelodysplasia
In leukaemogenesis, at what level of differentiation are the neoplastic cells?
Haemopoetic stem cells or early myeloid or lymphoid cells.
Can leukaemic cells differentiate?
No they proliferate to produce clones.
What are myeloproliferative disorders (MPD)?
Clonal disorders of haemopoiesis leading to increased numbers mature blood progeny of myeloid lineage.
Name 3 classical MPDs.
Polycythaemia rubra vera
Essential thrombocytosis
Myelofibrosis
MPDs are associated with what two gene mutations? What condition do MPDs have the potential to transform into?
JAK2V617F and calreticulin
Acute myeloid leukaemia
Essential thrombocytosis is on a continuum with PRV. What is it? What are some of the clinical features?
Increased platelet count.
Thrombotic complications, haemorrhagic complications, splenomegaly
How is essential thrombocytosis treated in low risk and intermediate risk individuals?
Low risk - aspirin/anti-platelet agent
Intermediate risk - aspirin + hydroxycarbamide
How is essential thrombocytosis treated in high risk individuals? (i.e. over 60 or high risk features)
First line - aspirin + hydroxycarbamide
Second line - anagrelide + aspirin
IFN-α
Busulphan
32P
JAK inhibitors e.g. ruxolitinib
What is the main side effect of JAK inhibitors?
Thrombocytopenia
Define Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). What kind of cancer treatment can MDS be secondary to? What condition can MDS progress to?
Syndromes characterised by dysplasia and ineffective haemopoiesis in 1 or more of the myeloid series.
Chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Acute Myeloid Leukaemia
MDS are often associated with acquired cytogenic changes such as… (name 2)
monosomy 5 or monosomy 7
What do 70-80% of people with MDS present with? In what other ways can MDS present?
Fatigue due to anaemia
Bleeding or infections
Incidental finding on FBC
In what ways can MDS be managed?
Supportive care - blood and platelet transfusion Growth factors - EPO and G-CSF Immunosuppression Low dose chemotheapy - hydroxycarbamide Demethylating agent Intensive chemotherapy Allogenic stem cell transplantation
Fanconi anaemia is a genetic condition accounting for 10-20% of aplastic anaemia cases. What is the pattern of inheritance?
Autosomal recessive
What do the majority of people with fanconi anaemia go on to develop?
Bone marrow failure and malignancy
What are some of the clinical features of fanconi anaemia?
Microphthalmia Short stature Short pinkies and absence of thumbs GU malformations GI malformations Mental disability Hearing loss Hydrocephalus
How is fanconi anaemia treated? How could it possibly be treated in the future?
Allogeneic stem cell transplant is gold standard.
Life time surveillance of secondary tumours.
Gene therapy where faulty FANC gene is replaced.
What is an autologous stem cell transplant? What is an allogeneic stem cell transplant?
Autologous: the patient’s own blood stem cells are used.
Allogeneic: the stem cells come from a donor.
What are the different types of allogeneic transplant?
Syngeneic Transplant - between identical twins.
Allogeneic Sibling - HLA identical.
Haplotype identical - A half matched family member. (usually a parent or a half matched sibling.)
Volunteer Unrelated (VUD)
Umbilical cord blood
What would be the main indications for autologous stem cell transplant?
Relapsed hodgkin’s disease
non-hodgkins’s lymphoma and myeloma.
In autologous stem cell transplantation, patient’s receive a growth factor to make the stem cells leave the bone marrow so they can be collected from the blood. What is the name of the growth factor?
G-CSF
In allogeneic transplantation where can the blood stem cells be taken from? What are the main indications for allogeneic transplant?
Peripheral blood, bone marrow or umbilical cord blood.
Acute and chronic leukaemias, relapsed lymphoma, aplastic anaemia, heriditary disorders.
“Graft versus host” and “graft versus leukaemia” can occur with a patient receives a allogeneic transplant. Explain these two terms.
GvH - when the immune cells of the donor’s blood attacks the host’s body cells.
GvL - when the immune cells of the donor’s blood attacks the leukaemia cells.
What is the purpose of Donor lymphocyte infusion (DCI)?
Used after stem cell transplant, induces graft vs leukaemia effect to prevent or treat a relapse.
How is non-myeloablative stem cell transplant different from a normal stem cell transplant?
Lower dose chemotherapy, and use of immunosuppression to allow donor cells to engraft while graft vs leukaemia eradicates the cancer.
What is the advantages and disadvantages of umbilical cord blood transplant?
Advantages - more rapidly available than VUD, less rigorous matching required as baby’s immune system naive.
Disadvantages: only small amounts, may require two transplants. Slower engraftment, if relapse, cant go back for DLI.
How does graft vs host disease present? What is the difference between acute and chronic GvH? How is GvH treated?
Jaundice, rash, diarrhoea.
Acute: occurs within first 100 days after transplant.
Chronic: occurs after 100 days.
Immunosuppression.
Name 5 problems with stem cell transplant?
Limited donor availability Mortality 10-50% GvH disease Immunosuppression Infertility in both sexes
What 4 things are required for normal red cell production?
Erythropoietin
Genes for erythropoeisus
Vitamins minerals - vit B12, folate, iron
Functioning bone marrow
Define anaemia.
A reduction in the quantity of haemoglobin in the blood.
What is the role of the RBC in gas transfer?
Removal of CO2, delivery of O2 from lungs to tissues.
What enzyme is involved in RBC CO2 removal?
Carbonic anhydrase
What are the components of a haemoglobin molecule?
4 globin chains (2 alpha, 2 beta) + 4 haem groups
What part of the RBC does O2 reversibly bind to?
The haem groups on the haemoglobin
The normal total body content of iron is about 4G. Where in the body is iron stored?
Bone marrow and RBCs
RES
Myoglobin
Enzymes i.e. cytochromes
What is the name of the glycoprotein responsible for delivering iron in the plasma to all tissues? How many iron binding domains does it have? Where is it synthesised?
Transferrin
2 iron binding domains
The liver
What is the relationship between level of iron in the plasma and amount of transferrin produced?
What is the % saturation of transferrin with iron?
The lower the level of iron in the plasma, the more transferrin produced.
30% saturation
How do macrophages of the RES take up iron? How is iron stored in the RES?
By ingesting dead RBC.
As ferritin or haemosiderin
What is the name of the protein that stores iron in every cell?
Ferritin
Serum ferritin is directly related to the amount of iron in the RES. This means that serum ferritin levels usually indicate overall iron levels. Explain: why is this sometimes not the case?
Ferritin is an acute phase protein. This means that sometimes, in the event of inflammation and tissue damage it can be elevated more than the amount in the body stores. This means that serum ferritin can be normal but iron can be low.
There is no excretory pathway to get rid of excess iron. How much iron do males and females lose each day and by what means?
Males: 1G/day through shedding of cells in GI tract
Females: 2G/day through shedding of cells in GI tract and through menstrual blood loss/pregnancy
Iron release from enterocytes into the plasma is regulated by the interaction between what two molecules?
Ferroportin and hepcidin