Fandom for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: Spotlight: Leukemia

As we continue to raise an amazing amount of money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, we thought it would be helpful if you knew a little bit more about the different cancers. What is this type of cancer? How is it diagnosed? What is the prognosis for people with this cancer? And other questions you may have. Our first spotlight is going to be on Leukemia.

We thought this would be a good one to start with because it is the first cancer named in "The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society". We will continue this spotlight for the next few weeks highlighting different cancers the LLS does research and trials for. So let's begin!

What is Leukemia?

Leukemia is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow, the spongy center of bones where our blood cells are formed. The disease develops when blood cells produced in the bone marrow grow out of control.

About 43,050 people are expected to develop leukemia in 2010. New cases of chronic leukemia will account for nearly 11 percent more new cases than acute leukemia.

Four Most Common Types of Leukemia

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the bone marrow and the blood that progresses quickly without treatment. It affects mostly cells that aren't fully developed. These cells can't carry out their normal functions. That's one reason why it's important to get care and treatment as soon as possible.?

With treatment, people who have AML continue to see improved results. However, AML can be a difficult disease to treat, and researchers are studying new approaches to AML therapy in clinical trials. Only 24.2 percent of people diagnosed with AML survive.?

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer of the bone marrow and blood that progresses rapidly without treatment. That's why it's important to start treatment soon after diagnosis.Most children with ALL are cured of their disease after treatment. The numbers of adults and their remission lengths have grown significantly over the past 30 years. 66.4 percent of people diagnosed with ALL survive. Just 54.6 percent of people diagnosed with CML survive.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a cancer of the bone marrow and blood. CML is usually diagnosed in its chronic phase when treatment is very effective for most patients. CML has three phases. Just 54.6 percent of people diagnosed with CML survive.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a type of blood cancer that begins in the bone marrow. It can progress either slowly or quickly depending on the form it takes. Many people with CLL live good-quality lives for years with medical care.This is the most common cancer in adults. Some people have CLL that grows slowly while other people have CLL that grows faster. 79.7 percent of people diagnosed with CLL survive.

Incidence by Gender

Incidence rates for all types of leukemia tend to be higher among males than among females. In 2010, males are expected to account for more than 57 percent of new cases of leukemia.

Survival

In 2010, an estimated 259,889 people are living with or in remission from leukemia. The five-year relative survival rate for patients with leukemia has nearly quadrupled in the past 49 years from 14 percent in whites from 1960 to 1963 to 55.3 percent for all races from 1999 to 2006.

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We hope this helps you better understand Leukemia. This is just a brief synopsis. As with any type of cancer we recommend you seek attention from a doctor for additional information. All information was gathered from the LLS website.

With your donation, LLS can continue to help find new treatments and cures for people with all types of Leukemia.

Source: http://fandom4lls.blogspot.com/2011/07/spotlight-leukemia.html

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