1. White Blood Cells Under Attack
Each year more than 15,000 people learn they have chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Normally, the bone marrow produces immature cells that develop into red blood cells, white blood cells (lymphocytes) and platelets. When a patient develops chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the cells that normally develop into healthy white blood cells appear abnormal and divide without control or order. These abnormal leukemic white blood cells aren't able to perform the infection-fighting job of a normal white blood cell. Patients with CLL can develop infections easily. The abnormal white blood cells can also crowd out red blood cells and platelets, so patients may have anemia or bruise easily.
2. An Inherited Risk
Researchers aren't sure exactly what causes chronic lymphocytic leukemia. However, by studying large groups of CLL patients, researchers know that people with a strong family history of CLL have an increased chance of developing the disease. To learn more about the genes responsible for the familial tendencies of CLL, the National Cancer Institute is conducting a study of people who have two or more living family members with CLL. This research may lead to the identification of the CLL gene or genes, so that doctors can offer gene testing for chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
3. Detecting Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
If patients exhibit swollen lymph nodes and fatigue that won't go away, the doctor can administer several tests to check for CLL. The doctor can take a blood sample to check the levels of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The definitive diagnostic test is a biopsy, in which the doctor removes a sample of bone marrow with a needle to check for leukemia cells. When the doctor examines these cells under a microscope, he can distinguish the CLL cells from similar cancers such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
4. Watchful Waiting
The average patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia is 72-years-old. The slow growing nature of this cancer means that patients with CLL may die from other causes without ever having suffered significant problems from their leukemia. Because of this, doctors may observe patients closely for symptoms or complications of CLL without offering aggressive treatment. For these patients, the risks of treatment outweigh the benefits. Doctors may also treat minor problems like infection without giving cancer treatment to patients with early stage CLL.
5. The Immune System Fights Leukemia
Researchers can engage the immune system to fight CLL by growing many copies of a single immune system cell that produce antibodies that fight cancer. These antibodies, called monoclonal antibodies, recognize certain substances on CLL cells as foreign. The monoclonal antibodies then destroy the cancer cells or slow their growth. A monoclonal antibody still under investigation, called LMB-2, can kill CLL by delivering a bacterial toxin into the cancer cells. Patients can ask their doctors if a clinical trial is an appropriate treatment option.
