Chronic Leukemia Treatment in Utah

Leukemia is an umbrella term for cancers of the blood and the blood-forming tissues of the body. An estimated 60,000 new cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2020, accounting for just over 3% of all new cancer diagnoses.

Chronic Leukemia Symptoms:

While there are many different types of leukemia, the symptoms among these types can be similar.

Because chronic leukemia develops slowly, these patients may go years without developing symptoms. In these cases, the disease is often found through a routine blood test ordered during a physical or for some other reason.

Acute leukemia progresses quickly, so patients almost always develop symptoms.

Common leukemia symptoms include:

  • Weakness, tiredness and fatigue
  • Fever and frequent infections
  • Excessive sweating or night sweats
  • Easy bleeding and bruising, including bleeding of the gums
  • Recurrent nose bleeds
  • Petechiae, a rash-like collection of pinpoint spots on the skin caused by bleeding into the skin
  • Shortness of breath
  • Swollen lymph nodes in the neck, underarm, stomach or groin
  • Loss of appetite or a full feeling after eating very little food due to enlargement of the spleen
  • Unexplained weight loss
  • Bone and joint pain
  • For female patients, longer than normal or heavier than normal menstruation

Chronic Leukemia  Treatment Options:

The goal of leukemia treatment is to put the disease into remission and ultimately cure the patient. For leukemia, complete remission usually means that the patient’s bone marrow has no microscopic evidence of the disease and his or her blood counts have returned to normal.  For patients with acute leukemia may need additional treatment to maintain remission.

  • Chemotherapy works by killing fast-growing cells, including cancer cells.
  • Targeted therapy works by stopping or slowing the growth or spread of cancer.
  • Immunotherapy recruit the body’s own immune system in the fight against cancer.
  • Radiation therapy uses focused, high-energy photon beams to destroy cancer cells.
  • Stem cell transplants: The liquid component of your blood, called the plasma, can be removed and replaced with normal plasma from a healthy donor.