AML

Acute Myeloid Leukemia, a.k.a. AML, is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal white blood cells that accumulate in the bone marrow(the place where you make blood cells, for your information) and interfere with the production of normal blood cells.

Symptoms:

• Fever
• Fatigue
• Weight loss or loss of appetite
• Anaemia
• Easy bruising or bleeding

Diagnosis:

• Complete blood count(counting the blood cells in your blood)
• Peripheral blood smear
• To be absolutely damn sure, bone marrow aspiration and BIOPSY.

Why it happens:

Because of gene mutations:

• Translocations between Chromosome 8 and 21
• Translocations between Chromosome 15 and 17
• Inversions in Chromosome 16

resulting in the disease.

Current treatment methods: 2 stages

Induction and Consolidation
Induction: Use chemotherapy and kill all the leukemic cells to an undetectable level.
Consolidation: Kill the remaining cells using bone marrow transplant etc etc...

To be continued...