Childhood Leukaemia
Leukaemia, accounts for about 25 percent of all childhood cancers and affects about 2,200 young people each year. Luckily, the chances for a cure have increased with latest treatments without any fears of remission.
Cancers of the white blood cells also referred to as 'leukocytes or WBCs' starts with chromosomal changes in cells. It alters the way cells work and grow. When a child has leukaemia, large numbers of abnormal white blood cells are produced in the bone marrow. These abnormal white cells crowd the bone marrow and flood the bloodstream, but they cannot perform their proper role of protecting the body against disease because they are defective.
As leukemia progresses, the cancer interferes with the body's production of other types of blood cells, including red blood cells and platelets. This results in Anemia (low numbers of red cells) and bleeding problems, in addition to the increased risk of infection caused by white cell abnormalities.
These cells keep growing when they are supposed to stop. They also grow faster than other cells. Over time, these abnormal cells crowd out the normal white blood cells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC), and platelets.
As a group, leukaemia's account for about 25 percent of all childhood cancers and affect about 2,200 young people each year. Luckily, the chances for a cure are very good with leukaemia. With treatment, most children with leukaemia are free of the disease without it coming back.
In general, leukaemias are classified into 'acute' (rapidly developing) and 'chronic' (slowly developing) forms. About 98% of leukaemias are acute in children. Childhood leukaemia's are also divided into Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia (ALL) and Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML), depending on whether specific WBC's, which are linked to immune defences, are involved.
Approximately 60% of children with leukemia have ALL, and about 38% have AML. Although slow-growing Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) may also be seen in children, it is very rare, accounting for fewer than 50 cases of childhood leukemia each year.
The ALL form of the disease most commonly occurs in younger children ages two to eight years, with a peak incidence at age four, but it can affect all age groups.
Children who have received prior radiation or chemotherapy for other types of cancer also have a higher risk for leukemia, usually within the first 8 years after treatment.
To limit the risk of prenatal radiation exposure as a trigger for leukemia (especially ALL), women who are pregnant or who suspect that they might be pregnant should always inform their doctors before undergoing tests or medical procedures that involve radiation (such as X-rays).
Regular checkups can spot early symptoms of leukemia in the relatively rare cases where this cancer is linked to an inherited genetic problem, to prior cancer treatment, or to use of immunosuppressive drugs for organ transplants.
Because infection-fighting white blood cells are defective in children with leukemia, these children may experience increased episodes of fevers and infections.
They may also become anaemic because leukaemia affects the bone marrow's production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells. This makes them appear pale, and they may become abnormally tired and short of breath while playing.
Children with leukemia may also bruise and bleed very easily, experience frequent nosebleeds, or bleed for an unusually long time after even a minor cut because leukemia destroys the bone marrow's ability to produce clot-forming platelets.
Other symptoms of leukemia may include:
* Pain in the bones or joints, sometimes causing a limp
* Swollen lymph nodes (sometimes called swollen glands) in the neck, groin, or elsewhere
* An abnormally tired feeling
* Poor appetite
To diagnose leukaemia bone marrow or lymph node samples are examined, Cell evaluations are also under taken including genetic studies to distinguish between specific types as well as certain features of the leukaemia cells. Children will receive anaesthesia or sedative medications for any painful procedures.
Sometimes a bone marrow transplant may be necessary in addition to - or instead of - chemotherapy, depending on the type of leukaemia a child has. During a bone marrow transplant, healthy bone marrow is introduced into a child's body.
Chemotherapy has certain side effects, including hair loss, nausea and vomiting in the short term, and potential health problems down the line. Some forms of childhood leukaemia have a remission rate of up to 90%; all children then require regular maintenance chemotherapy and other treatment to continue to be cancer-free. Overall cure rates differ depending on the specific features of a child's disease. And the majority of children can be cured –meaning that they are in permanent remission – of the disease.