Taking a Closer Look at Leukemia

There is no way to prevent leukemia. ("Facts of leukemia") Leukemia is often considered a childhood disease. ("Basics of leukemia") In fact no one knows the exact cause of leukemia. There are several risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing leukemia. ("Leukemia - an overview of topics") Leukemia causes one-third of cancer deaths from children under 15 years of age. ("SEER") Leukemia is cancer of the blood cell. Leukemia is in the bone marrow. Bone marrow is the place where cells are made.

A good way to understand leukemia is to examine the profile of the disease. First, the type of leukemia is important. Generally, leukemia is a cancer that develops in the bone marrow and metastasizes to the bloodstream. Leukemia is divided into two parts: lymphocytes and bone marrow cells. Lymphocytes and bone marrow cells can be divided into acute and chronic. "Chronic leukemia" refers to a state in which cells appear to be mature but are not completely normal. Acute leukemia is the rate at which cells divide. In acute leukemia, cells can not mature before they die

Depending on the rate of disease progression and the type of abnormal cells produced, there are various types of leukemia. If leukemia develops rapidly, it is called acute leukemia. Large amounts of leukemia cells rapidly accumulate in the blood and bone marrow, cause fatigue, and are prone to contusion and infection. Acute leukemia requires rapid and aggressive treatment. Leukemia is further classified as bone marrow or lymph, depending on the type of white blood cells that make up the leukemic cells. In order to understand various kinds of leukemia, a basic understanding about the normal development of blood cells is necessary. Normal blood cells arise from stem cells that are prone to many cell types. Bone marrow stem cells mature within the bone marrow and become immature white blood cells called bone marrow cells. These bone marrow cells further mature into erythrocytes, platelets or certain leukocytes.