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Leukemia is a cancer of the blood. A person with leukemia produces abnormal blood cells - usually white blood cells. These cells grow out of control and crowd out the normal blood cells. Find out more about leukemia by taking the following quiz, based on information from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
1. Leukemia is categorized as chronic or acute.
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Chronic leukemia gets worse slowly, with few symptoms early on. The abnormal white blood cells can function almost normally for quite a while, the NCI says. Over time, they increase in number and symptoms begin. Acute leukemia progresses rapidly. The abnormal white blood cells cannot function; they quickly increase in number and cause problems that can be life threatening.
2. Leukemia affects either a type of white cell called a lymphocyte or a type of bone marrow cell called a myeloid cell.
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Leukemia that affects the lymphocytes is either chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). Leukemia that affects the myeloid cells is either chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML). All four types of leukemia occur in adults. ALL is the most common type in children. AML can also occur in children, CML is much less common, and CLL is extremely rare in children.
3. Getting too little calcium in your diet is a risk factor for leukemia.
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Nutrition does not appear to play a role in the development of leukemia. According to the NCI, these may increase the risk: a job that involves working with benzene; smoking cigarettes; treatment with certain chemotherapy drugs; Down syndrome and certain other inherited conditions; infection with the human T-cell leukemia virus; myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood disease; exposure to high levels of radiation, either through a nuclear power plant accident or through medical treatment that involves high levels of radiation. It's not clear whether medical imaging tests like X-rays and CT scans, which expose people to much lower doses of radiation, increase the risk for leukemia.
4. Symptoms of leukemia can be similar to those of an infection.
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According to the NCI, these are common symptoms of leukemia: fever or night sweats, frequent infections, feeling weak or tired, headaches, easy bruising and bleeding, bone or joint pain, swelling in the belly (abdomen), swollen lymph nodes in the neck or armpit, weight loss. These symptoms may be caused by other medical conditions. If you have these symptoms, see your health care provider. Symptoms of chronic leukemia are mild at first. In fact, some people with chronic leukemia do not have symptoms right away. A person with acute leukemia will have symptoms that get worse quickly. Symptoms of acute leukemia may also include vomiting, confusion, and seizures.
5. The medical specialist who treats leukemia is an endocrinologist.
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Hematologists and oncologists treat leukemia. Other health care professionals on the treatment team may include nurses, social workers, case managers, and nutritionists.
6. Many people with acute leukemia can be cured.
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Leukemia is usually treated with chemotherapy, although biological therapy, targeted therapy, radiation therapy or a stem cell transplant may also be used. Chemotherapy is often quite effective in treating acute leukemia, although the chance of cure depends on many factors, including the specific type of leukemia. People with chronic leukemia usually cannot be cured, but maintenance therapy can be used to keep the leukemia in remission for long stretches of time, often many years.
7. Leukemia is just one of several cancers of the blood.
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Other blood cancers are Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Lymphoma involves abnormal lymphocyte cells and originates in the lymph system. Multiple myeloma involves abnormal plasma cells in the bone marrow.
