Blood cancer, which is also often called leukemia or leukemia, is by no means the last in a large list of oncological diseases. Patients, having heard such a diagnosis, often panic. This is understandable, because cancer is read literally as a sentence.
In fact, everything is not so tragic. Despite the complexity and duration of treatment, now even patients with the last (fourth) stage of the disease have a chance of cure. What you need to know and how to act in order to be a winner in the fight against the disease?
General information
Blood cancer is an oncological disease in which atypical cells appear in the bone marrow as a result of a mutation. They differ from ordinary ones in structure and functions. In addition, they quickly divide, thereby displacing healthy cells and disrupting the functioning of the whole organism.
The fact is that several types of cells are present in the blood at once:
- erythrocytes that can attach oxygen molecules and transport it throughout the body;
- platelets responsible for blood coagulation (they form a blood clot at the site of tissue damage and stop bleeding);
- white blood cells that eliminate pathogens and viruses that enter the bloodstream.
Mutated (cancerous) cells do not perform any of the above actions, moreover, with the blood stream they enter other organs of the human body (give metastases).
The peculiarity of leukemia is that it can appear in people of different ages. Among patients there are a large number of children, young and old. As for gender, the symptoms of blood cancer in men are detected more often. Doctors explain this by the fact that men are more susceptible to negative influences - working in harmful production, bad habits.
Causes of Blood Cancer
It has long been known that a serious illness is much easier to prevent than to treat, but with cancer it is much more complicated. The fact is that the exact causes of the appearance of atypical cells have not yet been discovered. But scientists and doctors still have some data - these are factors that can become an impetus for cell mutation. It was possible to identify them by studying the medical histories of many patients with blood cancer. In the life of most of them, the following risk factors were present:
- Exposure to ionizing radiation. Radiation has a profound effect on the human body. Its researchers call one of the main causes of leukemia. This is confirmed by the fact that most residents of post-war Japan and the Chernobyl zone were diagnosed with symptoms of blood cancer.
- Permanent contact with certain chemicals. These include benzene, cytostatics, and many other chemical and viral mutagens.
- Radiation therapy. Such treatment of certain diseases can eventually lead to the development of cancer of the blood.
- Bad habits. Excessive consumption of various alcoholic beverages, smoking, and the use of drugs significantly increase the risk of developing blood cancer. In women, this dependence happens somewhat less frequently.
- Genetic predisposition. Affects the level of risk and the presence of close relatives with a similar diagnosis.
Forms of leukemia
In fact, blood cancer is a collective concept, which includes several types of oncological diseases of the blood. It is customary to distinguish acute and chronic leukemia:
- A feature of acute leukemia is the presence of immature young blood cells in the blood. They inhibit the normal process of blood formation. Pathology is developing rapidly.
- Chronic leukemia has several other symptoms. This disease is manifested by a large number of granulocytes or granular leukocytes, which over time replace all healthy blood cells.
Stages of the development of the disease
The entire period of the course of leukemia is usually divided into several stages. In chronic leukemia there are 5 of them:
- 0 stage. At this time, atypical cells are present in the bone marrow in a rather limited amount. The course of the disease is characterized as slow and asymptomatic. Pathology can be detected only with a detailed study of the blood composition.
- 1st stage. Blood cancer is slowly progressing, the number of malignant cells is increasing. Some general symptoms are possible, but they are mild.
- 2 stage. The number of lymphocytes increases, the process gives metastases. The lymph nodes (they increase), the liver and the spleen are involved in the process.
- 3 stage. At this stage, the number of malignant cells is growing quite rapidly. It is at this point that many cancer patients seek medical help, because the symptoms of the disease become distinct.
- 4 stage. This is the last stage of the development of the disease. By this time, the functions of blood formation are completely impaired. Metastases are present not only in the liver, spleen and lymphatic system, but also in other organs.
Stages of acute leukemia
The development of acute leukemia is divided into only 3 stages:
- Initial. Since the onset of acute leukemia, its development has been rapid. The number of atypical cells is already quite large at this stage. In this regard, some symptoms similar to those of the flu are possible.
- Expanded. At this stage, blood cancer is actively manifested and fairly easily diagnosed. The peculiarity is that after the expanded stage, patients often experience prolonged remission. This means that a person has attenuation of the symptoms of leukemia or their complete disappearance.
- Terminal. The most dangerous stage of the development of leukemia, since there is a high probability of death. At this time, the disease is difficult to treat, patients complain of severe pain, which are relieved by conventional medicines (very powerful medications are needed). The whole blood system, lymphatic system, and some other organs are involved in the process.
How does leukemia manifest
The clinical picture is affected by which blood cells are most susceptible to the pathological process.
So, a sharp decrease in the number of platelets affects wound healing. Patients complain of bleeding gums, nosebleeds, which do not stop for a long time. Symptoms of blood cancer in women and men appear in the form of poor coagulability, fragility of blood vessels.
If the number of leukocytes is reduced, then this immediately affects the human immune system. Immunity is reduced, the body does not have enough strength to fight viral and infectious diseases. The result is persistent infectious diseases that go on.
A decrease in hemoglobin leads to oxygen starvation of tissues and organs, including the brain. The cancer patient notes a breakdown, fatigue. The skin becomes dry and pale, memory worsens, attention decreases.
Blood cancer symptoms
Like most other oncological diseases, leukemia in the first stages practically does not show symptoms. This is the very complexity that prevents the early detection of the disease.
Starting from stage 2-3, there are:
- small red spots on the skin (these are hemorrhages arising from the fragility of blood vessels);
- frequent nosebleeds;
- severe bone pain;
- headaches (at first they appear rather rarely and are effectively relieved by analgesics, but become stronger with time);
- heavy sweating at night;
- enlarged lymph nodes;
- weakness, apathy, fatigue;
- loss of appetite;
- sharp weight loss;
- dyspnea;
- bouts of nausea, which often end in vomiting;
- high body temperature (37-39 ° C).
Diagnostics
From the moment the atypical cells appear in the body, it must take some time before the disease begins to manifest itself. Cancer patients, as a rule, see a doctor at the 3rd stage, however, during a diagnostic examination, signs of blood cancer can be detected already in the initial stages. For this, laboratory tests and hardware procedures are carried out:
- Primary reception. You can’t do without this procedure. During it, the doctor will record complaints from the patient’s words, get acquainted with the medical history and associated diseases. At this time, conduct examination of the lymph nodes, skin, check reflexes. After this, additional diagnostic procedures are prescribed.
- Blood tests (general and biochemical). As a result, data on the quantitative composition of blood are obtained.
- Bone marrow examination. A tissue sample is obtained by puncture. A long thin needle removes a small amount of bone marrow from the ilium or sternum. A characteristic feature of blood cancer is that in the sample normal blood cells will be present in small numbers, while malignant immature cells predominate.
- Immunophenotyping (in other words, immunological research). In this case, flow cytometry is used. This type of hardware diagnostics makes it possible to analyze cellular components as quickly and efficiently as possible.
- Molecular genetic testing. It confirms or refutes the heredity of blood cancer in humans.
- The study is cytogenetic. During this procedure, the type of leukemia and the degree of damage to the chromosomes are detected.
- Chest x-ray. The results of such an examination provide data on the state of the lungs and lymph system. If there are metastases, this will be noticeable in the picture.
- Electroencephalography.
- Electrocardiography
- Ultrasound procedure. Another type of hardware examination, with which it is possible to obtain data on the state and work of internal organs. In particular, the doctor sees how the spleen and liver are enlarged. Possible metastases in other organs are also detected.
Can leukemia be cured
Just a few decades ago, this diagnosis was tantamount to a sentence. Many people now regard leukemia as an incurable disease. In fact, the detection of malignant cells in the blood is not a reason to give up.
Modern methods of treatment can effectively fight leukemia, and in the early stages completely get rid of it. At the same time, doctors are in no hurry to make treatment predictions. A lot here depends on the features: the stage and type of blood cancer, the age of the cancer patient, the presence of concomitant diseases.
Chemotherapy
Most types of cancer are treated with surgery. During its conduct, the surgeon performs a resection (removal) of the tumor, thereby blocking its further development. However, in the case of leukemia, this approach cannot be used, since there is no localized tumor. Atypical blood cells spread throughout the human body.
For this reason, doctors had to look for other suitable methods to combat leukemia. One of them is the use of chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy is a blood cancer treatment that uses potent drugs. The principle of their action is the inhibition of cancer cells and the destruction of their structure. As a result, atypical cells lose their ability to reproduce and the disease recedes.
Such drugs are available in the form of tablets or intravenous fluids. Apply them in courses. In this case, the doctor calculates the duration and dosage in each case individually.
It is worth noting that the effect of chemotherapy has an effect not only on malignant, but also on healthy tissues. For this reason, patients tolerate such treatment quite hard - there are many side effects. Among them: frequent bouts of nausea and vomiting, severe weakness, excessive hair loss, bone marrow damage.
Adjunctive therapy
During chemotherapy, the patient's body is especially sensitive to external influences. Immunity is sharply reduced, so a person is without protection from viruses and bacteria. To protect him from constant infectious diseases, a cancer patient is kept under observation in a clinic under sterile conditions.
In addition, various drugs are prescribed to restore the general condition:
- antibiotics
- corticosteroid hormones;
- antiviral medications;
- means for raising immunity.
Bone marrow transplantation
This method of treatment is used in cases where chemotherapy does not give a positive result. Bone marrow transplantation is a complex procedure in which bone marrow tissue is removed from a donor and then transplanted to a cancer patient.
This is preceded by long preparation of the patient. Before transplantation, it is necessary to eliminate all pathological cells, so a person is treated with strong doses of radiation or chemotherapy. In addition to the long preparation, the difficulty lies in finding a suitable donor.
However, even such complex operations do not guarantee a complete cure.
Proper nutrition
After treatment (chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation) it is very important to properly approach the diet. It will not only help restore strength, but also increase immunity and even prevent the onset of relapse.
What you should completely refuse:
- all kinds of sweets;
- bakery butter products;
- animal fats;
- carbonated drinks;
- fast food;
- canned foods;
- coffee and strong tea.
What should be the diet of a patient with a diagnosis of leukemia:
- dietary meat (it can be a rabbit or a bird);
- fresh vegetables and fruits, herbs (the amount of such products should be at least 500 g);
- liver (it’s good to cook it in the form of paste);
- fish and all kinds of seafood in general (it contains fatty acids that can slow the development and growth of cancer cells);
- dairy products (from it you can choose yogurt or unsweetened kefir, bifidok, fermented baked milk);
- nuts (in limited quantities);
- cereals (daily porridge should be present in the diet);
- vegetable oils (including olive oil);
- egg whites;
- green tea, not very sweet compote, fruit drinks, herbal decoctions.
Every patient with a similar diagnosis sooner or later asks how much they live with blood cancer. This indicator largely depends on the stage of the disease at which treatment began, and on the form of the disease.
With leukemia, which develops rather quickly, adult patients who applied at the very beginning of the disease get rid of the disease in about 85-90% of cases. Those who until recently pulled a trip to the clinic have a five-year survival rate in about 40% of cases.
Moreover, children have slightly different statistics - with timely treatment, they have more than 95% of cases of recovery.