LEUKEMIA

1. LEUKEMIA By: DW

2. LEUKEMIA • Leukemia is a type of cancer that starts in the cells of the bone marrow

3. The bone marrow is located inside the center of most bones and that is where the blood cells are made in the body • The Leukemia affects the white blood cells, over producing them and altering them

4. HISTORY • The Greeks were the first people to originally discover cancer sometime in the 4th or 5th century • Cancer is not just a recent type of disease but has been found in our ancient ancestors such as the Australopithecus and have even been found in some form in some dinosaur bones • But the certain type of cancer called leukemia was not discovered until 1845

5. HISTORY • Physicians in the 19th century noticed that their patients had high levels of white blood cells and called the cancer “ weisses blut” meaning white blood • The term leukemia that we now use comes from the Greek words “Leukos” and “heima” also meaning white blood • In 1913 leukemia was eventually divided into 4 types, CLL, CML, All, and erythroleukemia

6. Treatment & Cure • In 1970 it was discovered that some patients could be cured and by the 1980’s and 1990,s the cure rates were at 70% • Historically Arsenic was the most common treatment and was sometimes mixed with potassium bicarbonate which become a therapy for many different things such as anemia and Hodgkin’s disease

7. Chemotherapy Treatment • Chemo therapy originated and was discovered in World War II when some soldiers came in contact with mustard gas and was later found to have low white blood cell counts • Gertrude Ellion created the drug 6-MP and that drug is now used today along with many other drugs

8. CAUSES • Exposure to high levels of radiation • Exposure to certain chemicals such as benzene and formaldehyde • People with down syndrome are most likely to get (AML) Leukemia because of a certain defect in their DNA or chromosomes • Genetic abnormalities • A lot of people who have gone through cancer treatment before have a risk of getting leukemia due to all the chemotherapy and radiation used to stop the previous cancer

9. SYMPTOMS • Fever and night sweats • Feeling tired • Frequent colds and infections • Headaches • Pain in the bones and joints • Swelling in abdomen • Cuts and sores taking a long time to heal • Swelling of lymph nodes in the neck or armpit • Unintentional weight loss • Bruising easily • Gums or open cuts bleed easily • Shortness of breathe

10. TYPES OF LEUKEMIA

11. ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA • AML is one of many types of leukemia • AML is rapid multiplication of abnormal neutrophils that get in the way of the production of normal cells • AML is most common in adults around the age of 55 or older • A lot of cases of AML are caused by earlier treatments for previous cancers

12. AML has a rapid onset with noticeable symptoms such as fatigue, fever, infection and bleeding • Since AML can be very aggressive treatment must start as soon as possible • Chemotherapy is very affective in treating AML • After remission is achieved many cycles of chemotherapy is recommended because many patients will have relapses • Cure rate is 25%

13. ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA • ALL cause the persons bone marrow to over produce malignant lymphocytes which block healthy blood cells both red and white blood cells • It is mostly found in children around the age of 1 to 7 years of age • Treatment for ALL is very complicated involving many different chemotherapeutic drugs

14. ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA • The first step is to use many different chemotherapy's to get remission • The second step is intensification chemotherapy to get the desired goal of a cure • After remission most patients with ALL must continue treatment for 2 years • The cure rate for ALL in children are 75% • The cure rate for adults is 40%

15. CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA • Referred to as CML • CML is a slow process that doesn’t show any symptoms right away • Unfortunately it has an aggressive phase first called “accelerated phase” followed by an even worse phase called “Blastic Crisis”

16. CML • Bone marrow transplant is actually the only known cure for CML, so after remission it is strongly suggested that the person gets a bone marrow transplant • Although many new drugs are being discovered such as “Gleevec” • Some patients try using Gleevec first but most end up doing a bone marrow transplant after • In some rare cases the cancer has actually become immune to certain drugs

17. Future Direction of Treatment • Nanobots which are being tested on mice and have been proven successful but they are entirely biological and not mechanical • The future goal scientists are hoping for is to be able to create mechanical Nanobots so they can have complete control over what they are doing

18. Nanobot – microscopic robot Picture of what a nanobot would look like

19. Even though Leukemia can be a very fatal there are many new drugs and methods being introduced to help fight it. The most important points are: • Early recognition tools • Aggressive Treatment • Public Education

20. References • Frey,RF.(2009).U.X.L Encyclopedia Of Diseases And Disorders. (volume 3 pp.H-L) formingtonHills:Gale • Leukemia And Lymphoma Society. http//www.lls.org/#/disease information/leukemia • Shannon McGlauflin , Jolene Munger and Rebecca Nelson,(2005). http://rebeccanelson.com/leukemia/history.html “History Of Leukemia • Introduction TO Nanotechnology. http://nanogloss.com/nanobots/how-nanorobots-are-made/#axzz105BmDozk