White Blood Cell Disorders

Question 1

Multiple Myeloma

Answer 1

• Cancer of antibody-secreting B lymphocytes, called plasma cells
  -impairs bone marrow function, and produces defective antibodies
  -causes infections, anemia, destruction and fracture of skull bones, etc.
  -honeycomb appearance in skull bones
  -Chemotherapy, marrow and stem cell transplants

Question 2

Leukemia

Answer 2

Leukemia is used to describe a number of blood cancers affecting the WBCs. Marked leukocytes or elevated WBC levels occur in excess of 100,000/mm^3

Question 3

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)

Answer 3

-Malignant precursor B lymphocytes are produced in great numbers
-don’t produce normal antibodies
-Increase in infections may occur
-anemia, fatigue, and development of enlarged lymph nodes
-Many patients live many years without intervention, but some benefit from chemo and irradiation

Question 4

Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL)

Answer 4

-Cancerous cells crowd out other bone marrow cells and decrease the production of RBCs, platelets, and other nonmalignant lymphocyte precursor cells
-Fever, bone pain, increased rate of infection, anemia
-Cancerous transformation of B lymphocytes cause numbers to increase, swelling the lymph nodes, spleen, and liver
-chemotherapy, radiation, and bone marrow/stem cell transplants

Question 5

Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML)

Answer 5

-Cancerous transformation of granulocytic (neutrophil, eosinophil, and basophil) leukocytes in the bone marrow
-Fatigue, weakness, weight loss
-Diagnosis is often made by discovery of marked elevations of granulocytic WBCs in peripheral blood, and by extreme enlargement of the spleen
-bone marrow transplants
-Gleevec constitutes a major advance in treatment of CMS, by seeking out and blocking flawed signals in CML cancer that cause runaway proliferation

Question 6

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

Answer 6

-Accounts for 80% of acute leukemia in adults, and 20% of children
-Bone marrow makes too many immature WBCs that can’t fight infection
-Once symptoms appear, the disease progresses rapidly
-Fatigue, bone and joint pain, spongy bleeding gums, symptoms of anemia, recurrent infections
-50% of children, 30% of adults reach long-term survival
-bone marrow and stem cell transplantation

Question 7

Infectious Mononucleosis (Mono)

Answer 7

-Noncancerous WBC disorder often in adolescents
-Caused by virus found in the saliva of infected individuals, spread by sharing drinks or kissing
-Leukocytosis is common early in the disease with total counts reaching 12,000/18,000/mm^3
-atypical lymphocytes with abundant cytoplasm and a large nucleus
-fever, sore throat, rash, severe fatigue, and enlargement of lymph nodes and spleen.