Acute leukemia of the blood: how many live, treatment features and diagnostics

Leukemia begins to develop with a malfunction in the cells of the bone marrow, which are responsible for providing the human body with antitumor immunity. This violation is fraught with serious consequences. In simple terms, the cell that failed is then divided into thousands of the same ones that spread throughout the body, affecting the lungs, kidneys, heart, liver, lymph nodes. This is the manifestation of acute blood leukemia.

How many live with such a disease, can you stop its development, what is necessary for this to be done? There are a lot of questions in this topic, and it's worth trying to find the answer to everything.

Preconditions and Symptoms

So far, doctors have not clarified the exact reasons that trigger the development of leukemia. Each year, about 35 new cases per 1 million people are registered. The structure of this mutation is very complex and depends on many purely individual nuances. However, the factors that can provoke its occurrence, the doctors could be identified. So, a mutation can arise because of:

• Effects of increased radiation;
• Work in hazardous production;
• Hereditary predisposition;
• Prolonged chemotherapy;
• Smoking;
• Chromosomal diseases;
• Severe viruses (HIV, for example);
• Chemical poisons contained in air or food.

All these factors can provoke acute leukemia of the blood. But how many live with this disease? If you pay attention to symptoms in time and ask for help, you can prolong your existence. The patient should be concerned about the appearance of increased weakness, rapid fatigue, uncontrolled body temperature changes, night sweats, frequent headaches, severe weight loss, pale skin and lack of appetite. More specific symptoms include frequent bruising, pain in bones and joints, dry skin with icteric color, small rash, poor eyesight, poor wound healing, problem urination and shortness of breath.

How long does the patient have?

The answer to this question depends on the stage of the disease. It should be understood that in the case of the diagnosis of "acute blood leukemia ", how many patients live, it is unequivocally difficult to answer. Conditionally, there are 3 forms of this disease. Thus, the least risk is associated with the former, and about 10 years live with it. With the second form, the life expectancy will be about 5-8 years. But if the degree of risk is high, then the life expectancy will not exceed 3 years.

The fact is that the acute form of the disease progresses faster than the chronic form. But still acute leukemia is not a verdict. If you notice changes in the body in time and seek help.

Severe cases

With a particularly neglected form of a disease such as acute leukemia, life expectancy is minimal. A person has three years left, no more. But, fortunately, such cases are rare. Usually patients of a severe stage are elderly people. That is, over 70 years of age or those who have serious genetic mutations in the cells.

There is very little time left for people with other cancers. And also in patients with an overestimated level of blast cells. In such cases, it is recommended to combine general restorative therapy, chemotherapy and a healthy lifestyle to prolong life.

Complications

Still, one can not deny the fact that there are cases in which medicine is powerless. The prognosis is disappointing, if in the human body, along with infections, there are fungal populations. They are resistant even to the most powerful antibacterial drugs. There are cases in which the human body is so weak that the loss of immunity becomes incompatible with his life.

If a patient has been diagnosed with a form of leukemia that was not previously described in medicine, then, most likely, nothing will be done. It does not respond to radiation or chemical therapy. Remission in this case is not achievable, and because of this, bone marrow transplantation becomes impossible.

In addition, sudden bleeding and hidden aneurysms of the brain can lead to death. Also, a fatal outcome can occur if a person has caught an infectious complication with weakened immunity.

Recovery

But recovery is also real, and it can not but rejoice. If you believe the statistics, the chances of a full recovery with timely treatment usually range from 50% in adults and up to 95% in children. With successful stem cell transplantation, cure occurs in 60% of cases.

In general, statistics can tell a lot about acute leukemia of the blood. How many live with this disease? If the stage of the blast crisis occurs, which occurs when the disease passes from a chronic form, then the life expectancy decreases to 6-12 months. Lethal outcome in such cases comes from complications.

Talking about how many, according to statistics, people with leukemia live, one can not fail to note one important nuance. The probability of a lethal outcome is 90% if the disease is not treated. And people with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who started treatment on time and follow the recommendations of doctors recover in 85-95% of cases.

The heavier disease is its myeloblastic form. In such cases, the number of people recovering is 40-50%. The use of stem cell transplantation can increase this percentage to 55-60%.

Diagnostics

There are three ways with which to determine acute leukemia (leukemia, blood cancer). How many later patients live, also depends on the establishment of a competent diagnosis and identifying the features of the course of the disease.

The simplest method is to give blood to a general analysis. By the way, often an ailment is found during a preventive examination. Reduction of hemoglobin level, platelet count and high white blood cell count can not but cause suspicions from the doctor.

The second method is specific. It implies aspiration of the bone marrow. The doctor removes the cells from it to study under a microscope in the laboratory. You can reach the bone marrow only by puncturing the outer layer of bone with a special needle. Naturally, anesthesia is used.

And the third is called a bone marrow biopsy. He is the most complex. Because the doctor extracts a small part of the bone together with the bone marrow.

The path to recovery

Treatment includes three stages. The first implies intensive therapy of disorders of bone marrow blood supply. Chemotherapy helps to eliminate blast cells. Of course, cytostatics are unsafe, but they have not yet developed an alternative.

Then follows the consolidation of remission, lasting about six months. The patient is prescribed procedures and drugs aimed at preventing the proliferation of cancer cells, which could not be disposed of during chemotherapy. The last stage involves supportive therapy.

Proper treatment can really prolong life. There are quite a few people who are not even broken by such a serious illness as acute blood leukemia. How many live, reviews of doctors and patients will not help to establish unequivocally, but it is important to remember that with this disease it is worth fighting without giving up. And then the cancer will recede.