Leukaemia

Question 1

Define Leukaemia

Answer 1

A type of cancer affecting blood and bone marrow, characterised by the uncontrolled growth of abnormal WBC’s

Question 2

List the 4 main types of leukaemia

Answer 2

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL)
Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML)
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL)
Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML)

Question 3

Describe the acute leukaemias

Answer 3

ALL- affects lymphoid cells, most common in children
AML- affects myeloid cells, common in adults

Question 4

Describe the chronic leukaemias

Answer 4

CLL- affects lymphoid cells, rare in patients younger than 40 yrs old
CML- affects myeloid cells, linked to Philadelphia chromosome (22)

Question 5

What is hematopoiesis?

Answer 5

Process of blood cell production, from stem cells, primarily in the bone marrow

Question 6

What is malignant hematopoiesis?

Answer 6

Abnormal, uncontrolled growth of cells, leading to blood cancers
Occurs due to mutations/ genetic changes which disrupt normal blood cell production
Results in dysfunctional blood cells that crowd out healthy cells

Question 7

What chromosomal abnormalities occur in leukaemia?

Answer 7

Philadelphia Chromosome- found in CML, translocation between chromosome 9 & 22
Down Syndrome- inc risk for leukeamia,especially ALL
Translocations- common in ALL and AML
Deletion of chromosome 5/ 7- seen in some AML cases

Question 8

How is AML classified?

Answer 8

Using the FAB classification system of M0-M7
M0 being minimal differentiation and M7 being Megkaryoblastic leukemia

Question 9

Describe the role of chromosomal markers in leukemias

Answer 9

Diagnosis- Translocations, deltions/ mutations are charaterised of specific types of leukemias
Classification- means leukaemia can classified into sub-types
Prognosis- abnormalities influence the likely hood of an individual developing leukaemia
Treatment- identifying specific markers helps guide treatment strategies