Blood cancer random diagnosis leukemia

Leukemia disease often discovered by accident

06/22/2014

In Germany, around 11,500 people suffer from leukemia each year. As was recently known, former Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is also affected. Often, a blood cancer disease is only discovered by chance, as with the FDP politician.

Blood cancer accidentally discovered by Guido Westerwelle
Only by chance has the former Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle learned of his leukemia disease. The doctors had noticed abnormalities in the blood of the former FDP chairman in preliminary examinations for a knee operation. Since the symptoms of acute leukemia start quite suddenly, develop rapidly and diversely, and are sometimes of a very general nature, accurate diagnosis is difficult. Often, blood cancer is detected only very late or only by chance.

Around 11,500 leukemia diseases a year
According to the Cancer Information Service, around 11,500 people in Germany suffer from leukemia every year. It is said to be over 900,000 worldwide. In blood cancer, there is a rapid increase in white blood cells (leukocytes) and their unserviceable precursors. As a result, the blood cells of their main task, the defense against pathogens, no longer meet. In addition, the proliferation of other parts of the blood are increasingly displaced and the still healthy white blood cells and the red blood cells (erythrocytes) and platelets (platelets) decrease. As a result, there is anemia, also called anemia, as well as disorders of blood clotting.

Nonspecific symptoms make diagnosis difficult
Patients may experience symptoms such as severe paleness, tiredness, increased susceptibility to infections, bleeding, loss of appetite, weight loss, impaired performance, dizziness, or palpitations. Leukemia cells that spread in the bone marrow may also affect organs such as the spleen, liver, kidneys, lymph nodes, or meninges, causing dysfunction and symptoms such as lymph node swelling. But since the symptoms are so unspecific, a random diagnosis, as with Guido Westerwelle, is the rule rather than the exception. Men are more likely to get blood cancer than women. The causes of the disease are not yet clear.

Different forms of illness
The disease distinguishes between "chronic and acute leukemia". At first, the chronic form often remains inconspicuous and therefore long unrecognized. It can last for several years. Acute leukemia, on the other hand, develops very fast. Often sufferers already feel within a few weeks a variety of symptoms. The disease progresses accordingly fast. The acute form is also divided into two sub-forms: the myeloid form, which affects stem cells in the bone marrow, and the lymphatic variant, which primarily affects the lymphatic system of the body.

Treatment with chemo
Leukemia is usually treated with chemotherapy. However, other forms of treatment are also being researched and it was announced last year that Italian and German scientists had treated a special form of blood cancer with a combination of arsenic trioxide and a vitamin A derivative. "In addition to chemo, stem cell and bone marrow transplantation is often performed in the acute myeloid, and although the prognosis for patients has improved in recent years overall, it remains rather unfavorable, especially in adulthood ". Five years after diagnosis, not even half of them live on. However, reliable statements could not be made, since a recovery is often achieved only initially and a lasting cure is rarely achieved. About two-thirds of adults under the age of 65 would recover, compared with about half of the elderly.

Stem cell donors
Many people could help with a stem cell donation. Just last month was on „World Blood Cancer Day“ recruited for donors. These can register with a saliva sample in the German Bone Marrow Donor Database (DKMS). In principle, every healthy adult between the ages of 18 and 55 can become a stem cell donor. However, people who have suffered or have suffered from a chronic illness or other serious illness or regularly take medication should consult the DKMS. The exclusion criteria include, for example, diseases of the cardiovascular system such as myocardial infarction, metabolic diseases such as diabetes, cancer or severe kidney disease. (Ad)