Leukemia

　　What is leukemia?

　　Leukemia is a clonal malignant disease caused by the abnormality of blood-forming stem cells. A large number of abnormal white blood cells, which have lost their ability of further differentiation and maturation and stay in different stages of cell development, are produced in bone marrow and other blood-forming tissues. These abnormal cells abundantly proliferate, accumulate and infiltrate other organs and tissues, meanwhile, inhibit the normal blood-forming functions. That is why leukemia patients always have symptoms like anemia, hemorrhage, infection and infiltration of other organs.

　　What is the incidence of leukemia?

　　The incidence of leukemia accounts for a percentage of 2.5 among all the cancers. All over the world, about 47,150 people are diagnosed with leukemia every year, and 23,540 people die of leukemia yearly. Leukemia is the Top 1 pediatric cancer in incidence. Children between 0-4 years old are in the highest risk, and the incidences ratio between boys and girls is 7:5.

　　What are the common types of leukemia?

　　According to the source and morphological characteristics of the cells, leukemia can be divided into below types:

　　1、Acute myeloid leukemia: it is caused by the abnormal proliferation of myeloid white blood cells. It has the characteristic that abnormal cells in bone marrow rapidly proliferate affecting the production of normal blood cells.

　　2、Chronic myeloid leukemia: it is a clonal proliferative disease of blood-forming stem cells. Its major characteristics include bone marrow hyperplasia, peripheral blood leukocytes increase and enlargement of spleen.

　　3、Acute lymphoblastic leukemia: it is a kind of rapidly progressing leukemia caused when the lymphoblast uncontrollably proliferate and abnormally differentiate or its differentiation is obstructed, which result in formation of abundant immature white blood cells.

　　4、Chronic lymphocytic leukemia: it is a malignant cancer that affects lymph cells leading to immature differentiation of them. These immature lymph cells gather within bone marrow, inhibit its normal blood-forming function and spread in the body through blood.

　　What are the causes of leukemia?

　　Although many factors are considered to have relation with the incidence of leukemia, the causes of leukemia still are not completely known. So far, it is still believed that the causes of leukemia are mainly related with infection, radioactive factors, chemical factors and hereditary factors.

　　What are the symptoms of leukemia?

　　1. Anemia: mainly appear as pale face, dizziness and palpitation.

　　2. Fever: occasional or irregular fever, with temperature remaining between 37.5℃ and 40℃, or even higher.

　　3. Bleeding: bleeding can happen to all parts of the body, among which bleedings of the nasal cavity, oral cavity and gumline are the most common.

　　4. Lymph nodes: enlargement of lymph nodes in the body. This symptom is commonly seen in patients of acute lymphoblastic leukemia

　　5. Enlargement of liver and spleen: 50% of leukemia patients have enlargement of liver and spleen, among which those who have acute lymphoblastic leukemia have the most obvious symptoms of liver and spleen enlargement.

　　6. Inflammation of nervous system: leukocyte infiltration happens in the arachnoid mater and menigeal, resulting in symptoms like increase of intracranial pressure and paralysis of limbs.

　　7. Other symptoms: when cancer cells infiltrate the body parts of respiratory system, digestive system and urogenital system, symptoms like pleural effusion, disorder of digestive function and proteinuria.

　　What are the diagnosis methods of leukemia?

　　1、Blood routine examination: take some blood from finger or ear lobe to check the amount of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets and to classify the white blood cells.

　　2、Peripheral blood smear: blood smear can detect many bone marrow cells that with abnormal changes. These cells are the known immature white blood cells.

　　3、Bone marrow aspiration biopsy: equipment is inserted into the medullary canal to take out a little bone marrow for check, count and classify the various types of cells in the bone marrow.

　　What are the nursing methods of leukemia?

　　Dietary nursing methods

　　1. Eat more foods containing rich protein and calories.

　　2. Take in more foods that contain rich vitamins

　　3. Have more foods that contain rich iron elements

　　Life care

　　1. Take medicines and go to hospital for recheck regularly

　　2. Establish healthy life habit

　　3. Prevent infection by keeping a clean environment at home.

　　4. Pay attention to food safety and health and have the tableware and foods sterilized

　　Common treatment methods of leukemia

　　According to different types of leukemia, treatments include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy and Chinese medicine, and so on. Some of leukemia patients, who are in high risk, also need to undergo bone marrow transplantation.

　　The best treatment method for leukemia

　　According to the patient’s condition and relevant symptoms, a joint consultation of multi- disciplinary specialists, which include oncology surgeons, pathologist, radio-oncologist, minimally invasive oncologists, professional oncology nurses and interpreters, will be held to make a specific treatment plan for the patient to improve the treatment effect.

　　Chinese medicine characteristic treatment for leukemia

　　Chinese medicine has the advantages of nursing and balancing patient’s health, strengthening his physical constitution and improving the immunity, as well as resisting cancer. Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou’s combination of Chinese medicine with other anti-cancer treatment techniques, which combines the advantages of Chinese medicine and Western medicine, can effectively improve the effect of cancer treatment.

　　What support you can get from Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou?

　　Study proved that a muti-disciplinary medical group, which is composed of surgical oncology, medical oncology, department of traditional Chinese medicine, pathology department, department of radiology, anesthetist and professional nurses, can make a more effective, more suitable and more economical treatment plan so as to improve the effect of cancer treatment.

　　Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou, with its multi-disciplinary “one-stop” medical system, offers comprehensive diagnosis and treatment service to patients. It not only offers patients with all-round considerate medical service, but also improves the medical efficiency and level without increasing patient’s burden. Communication channels between patients and doctors are various, which include online consultation, email, on-phone communication and face-to-face communication. All these communication channels allow patients to enjoy the service of consultation and help them fight against cancers. Medical groups that services patients include doctors, nurses, dietitians and interpreters, by whom all levels of needs of patients from different countries can be met. Under this smooth communication environment, patients can peacefully cooperate with the treatment.