Acute Nonlymphocytic Leukemia

Acute Nonlymphocytic Leukemia General Information

Acute Nonlymphocytic Leukemia Symptoms

Acute Nonlymphocytic Leukemia usually affects men rather than women, but the symptoms are always the same. If you have this type of cancer, it means that inside your body abnormal cells are found (in your bone marrow) that divide and develop very rapidly, replacing the healthy ones. Usually, the bone marrow interferes in the fight against infections of any kind and once this disease is installed, it stops working as it should. This is why persons suffering of Acute Nonlymphocytic Leukemia are more sensitive in the case of bleeding and are more prone to developing infections as the quantity of abnormal cells increases. The lack of white normal blood cells could determine a patient to become anemic (with all the afferent symptoms) while the lack of platelets causes bleeding and bruising. In an early stage of ANLL, a person could present the symptoms of a regular flu or of other illnesses: tiredness, pains and aches in the joints or in the bones, weakness, fever, or loss of appetite that leads to loss of weight. There are some other symptoms and signs that usually indicate that a person is suffering from ANLL, for example: very poor healing of some minor cuts, easy bleeding, small pinheaded flat red spots under the skin, caused by bleeding (petechiae), very frequent minor infections, or easy bruising. Women can present abnormal periods of the menses. Other symptoms include frequent bleedings from the nose, paleness, shortness of breath that gets worse with exercises, swollen gums (rarely), lesions of the skin and bleeding gums.

Acute Nonlymphocytic Leukemia Treatment

An appointment with your health care provider is urgent if you develop any of the symptoms listed above that may indicate you have Acute Nonlymphocytic Leukemia. If you already know about your ANLL condition, call the health care provider if your fever or any signs and symptoms do not go away with the given treatment. When seeing a medical specialist, he or she will first do a physical examination because you may present swellings of the lymph nodes, spleen or liver. Anemia will be discovered after a CBC (complete blood tests), along with the reduced number of platelets. Also, it could be discovered a lower WBC (white blood cells count) than normal, as well as a higher or even a normal one. The presence of any leukemia cells is observed after an aspiration of the bone marrow. Some clinics also use bone marrow aspiration (using a syringe) or bone marrow biopsy for a better examination under the microscope if the blood tests were abnormal. Checking if the tumor spread to the cerebrospinal fluid may be vital for the patient.

For this, a spinal tap or a lumber puncture may be needed. Because there are more different types of AML, once the disease is detected the doctor will need to do several other tests to find out the specific type of AML. The main method of treatment is chemotherapy which uses various medicines to kill the cells that provoke Acute Nonlymphocytic Leukemia, although radiation is also used, but more rarely and only in certain cases. The negative aspect of this therapy is that it also destroys the normal cells so that the adverse effects are regular, such as a higher risk for infections, or bleeding in excess. This is why you may be kept away from other people by the specialists to prevent any infection that might occur. Acute Nonlymphocytic Leukemia can also be treated with antibiotics (that fight against infections), transplants of stem cells or bone marrow, platelets transfusions that could help controlling the bleeding, or transfusions of red cells of the blood so that the patient resists to anemia. Usually, a treatment against Acute Nonlymphocytic Leukemia includes two steps: the first is the induction therapy and the second one is the so called continuation therapy or post-remission therapy. Any treatment against a form of cancer involves several complications, for example: bleeding that could put your life in danger of death or very serious infections.

It is well known that the cancer may usually relapse (come back, return) after a therapy is finished. It is hard enough to prevent cancer. But, if your work involves chemicals or radiation that might lead to leukemia, try to use always appropriate clothes (protective gear). Those who develop Acute Nonlymphocytic Leukemia at a younger age have more chances to get better than those who are at an older age because their organism could resists better to chemotherapy. Usually, a patient is in remission when all his symptoms or signs of AML are gone and this happens in almost 75% of the cases, if the adequate treatment is applied in time.