Pediatric Leukemia

What is Leukemia?

Leukemia is a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow. It usually develops in the bone marrow- the spongy tissue inside the bones. The bone marrow is the "factory" which produces all the cells in our blood.

In leukemia, instead of normal blood cells, the bone marrow produces abnormal cells, called blasts. There are different types of leukemia depending on which abnormal cells are produced, such as myeloid or lymphoid blasts. Leukemia can be acute or chronic based on how mature the abnormal cells are and how quickly the disease develops.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Leukemia?

Leukemia usually leads to all the normal blood cells being affected, as their production is decreased because of the growth of the abnormal cells within the bone marrow. The symptoms that occur are due to low numbers or poor function of the normal blood cells:

Fatigue, lethargy, loss of appetite, and weight loss

Fevers and infections due to low white blood cells and an abundance of blasts lead

Fatigue, dizziness, headaches, and paleness due to anemia from low red blood cells

Bleeding,bruising, or multiple pinhead-sized red spots on the skin due to low platelet counts

How is Leukemia Diagnosed?

Complete Blood Count (CBC) and blood cell exam under the microscope (peripheral blood smear) are often the first ones done on patients with suspected leukemia. The confirmatory diagnosis is made with a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy. This procedure may also be done again later to inform physicians if the leukemia is responding to treatment.

What is the Treatment for Leukemia?

Different types of leukemia are treated differently. The main treatments are chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT) is another type of treatment that is used in patients with leukemia that is difficult to treat or in those whose leukemia has come back. Chemotherapies are medications which kill leukemia cells. There are different combinations of chemotherapy medications and the schedule at which they are given differ for the different types of leukemia; treatment for some types of leukemia lasts for years whereas other types require treatment over several months.

More information about specific types of leukemia and their treatment can be found on the National Cancer Institute’s website:

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/pediatrictreatment