Leukemia or leukaemia (see spelling differences) is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal proliferation of blood cells, usually white blood cells (leukocytes). It is part of the broad group of diseases called hematological neoplasms.

Types:

Leukemias are classified as either lymphocytic or myeloid, depending on the type of leukocyte affected. In addition, leukemias are classified as either acute, referring to a rapidly progressing disease that involves immature leukocytes, or chronic, referring to a slower proliferation involving mature white cells. In acute leukemias, immature nonfunctioning leukocytes called blast cells proliferate.

The myeloid leukemias affect white blood cells (myelocytes) that give rise to granulocytes (phagocytic white blood cells that mount an inflammatory immune response). They include chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), also called acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL). The lymphocytic leukemias affect the white blood cells that give rise to various types of lymphocytes. They include acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL); chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), also called chronic granulocytic leukemia; and hairy cell leukemia (HCL), a chronic leukemia named for the cells’ tiny hairlike projections. The lymphocytic leukemias are sometimes referred to as B cell leukemias or T cell leukemias depending upon whether they arise in antibody-producing B cells (HCL, CLL, and some cases of ALL) or in the T cell lymphocytes involved in cell-mediated immunity (some cases of ALL). (See immunity for a further explanation of the cells of the immune system.) Each of these types may be further classified into subtypes. Most childhood leukemias are of the acute lymphocytic type; acute myeloid leukemia is the most common type of adult leukemia.

Treatment:

The diagnosis of leukemia is confirmed by finding a disproportionate number of leukocytes in tissue obtained from a bone marrow biopsy. The course of treatment is based upon the type of cell affected, the progression of the disease, and the age of the patient. Some slowly progressing forms may require no treatment. Improved treatments have increased survival from some types of leukemia considerably.

Treatment may include chemotherapy with anticancer drugs, radiation therapy, blood and plasma transfusions, and bone marrow transplantation. In bone marrow transplantation, healthy bone marrow (either donated by a closely matched donor or treated marrow from the patient) is infused into the patient after the patient has undergone a course of marrow-destroying very high dose chemotherapy. Recent studies have indicated that blood from a newborn infant’s umbilical cord and placenta (called cord blood) can be used effectively instead of marrow transplants in some leukemias. Biological therapy (sometimes called immunotherapy) is also used. Biological therapies include monoclonal antibodies; interferons; maturation drugs, such as all-trans retinoic acid; and tyrosine kinase inhibtors, such as imantinib mesylate (also known as STI-571 and Gleevec). These therapies may enhance the body’s natural reaction to leukemia by bolstering the immune response, may inhibit the gene that drives cell proliferation, or may encourage maturation of immature leukemic cells or reproduction of needed healthy blood elements.