Other Form of Leukemia - Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemias (ALL)

Acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL), is a form of leukemia, or cancer of the white blood cells characterized by excess lymphoblasts.

Malignant, immature white blood cells continuously multiply and are overproduced in the bone marrow. ALL causes damage and death by crowding out normal cells in the bone marrow, and by spreading (infiltrating) to other organs. ALL is most common in childhood with a peak incidence at 2–5 years of age, and another peak in old age. The overall cure rate in children is about 80%, and about 45%-60% of adults have long-term disease-free survival.

Acute refers to the relatively short time course of the disease (being fatal in as little as a few weeks if left untreated) to differentiate it from the very different disease of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia which has a potential time course of many years. It is interchangeably referred to as Lymphocytic or Lymphoblastic. This refers to the cells that are involved, which if they were normal would be referred to as lymphocytes but are seen in this disease in a relatively immature (also termed 'blast') state.

Symptoms The signs and symptoms of ALL are variable but follow from bone marrow replacement and/or organ infiltration.

• Generalized weakness and fatigue
• Anemia
• Frequent or unexplained [fever] and [infection]
• Weight loss and/or loss of appetite
• Excessive and unexplained bruising
• Bone pain, joint pain (caused by the spread of "blast" cells to the surface of the bone or into the joint from the marrow cavity)
• Breathlessness
• Enlarged lymph nodes,liver and/or spleen
• Pitting edema (swelling) in the lower limbs and/or abdomen
• Petechia, which are tiny red spots or lines in the skin due to low platelet levels

The signs and symptoms of ALL result from the lack of normal and healthy blood cells because they are crowded out by malignant and immature leukocytes (white blood cells). Therefore, people with ALL experience symptoms from malfunctioning of their erythrocytes (red blood cells), leukocytes, and platelets. Laboratory tests which might show abnormalities include blood count tests, renal function tests, electrolyte tests and liver enzyme tests.

Wikipedia