Leukaemia is a cancer that occurs in blood cells. There are several types of Leukaemia and these are classified by how quickly they progress and which cells they affect.

The types include:

Acute Myeloid Leukaemia - occurs in both children and adults.

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia - the most common type seen in children, but also seen in adults over 65.

Chronic Myelogenous Leukaemia - occurs mostly in adults.

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia - most often seen in people over age 55, can affect younger adults, but almost never seen in children.

In the case of Leukaemia, one blood cell goes awry and the body produces large numbers of this cell. In most cases the cell that goes awry is the white blood cell. When looked at under a microscope, these abnormally produced cells look different then the healthy cells and do not function properly. The body continues to produce these abnormal, non-functional cells, leaving little space for healthy cells. This imbalance of healthy and unhealthy cells is what causes the symptoms of Leukaemia.

How does Leukaemia affect the patient?

Generally patients become weak and tired and appear pale, primarily because they are anaemic due to a deficiency of red blood cells.

They often develop fevers due to infections (because of an insufficiency of certain types of white blood cells which normally defend us against infections) and bruise or bleed easily due to a lack of special particles in the blood called platelets which normally help blood to clot.

All of these signs and symptoms are due to the failure of the bone marrow to make normal blood cells owing to the fact that the useless leukaemia cells have replaced all the normal bone marrow cells.

If the patient is not treated urgently they will die from overwhelming infections, anaemia or bleeding.

Diagnosis.

The patient usually goes to see a doctor because of one or all of the above symptoms.

If the doctor is suspicious that the patient has leukaemia he will arrange for the patient to have a simple blood test. This will reveal whether there are any leukaemia cells in the blood or alternatively will show there to be an excess or deficiency in normal blood cells.

If this is shown to be the case then the patient will be asked to have a bone marrow biopsy.
This is where a small sample of bone marrow is removed with a needle and syringe, usually from the pelvis, and is inspected under the microscope by a specialist called a haematologist.

This will reveal whether normal bone marrow cells have been replaced by leukaemia cells and is the definitive test upon which the diagnosis can be made.

The haematologist also has a series of special tests that can be used on the bone marrow cells to establish the particular type of leukaemia the patient has.