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Leukemia

The word 'leukemia' is a very frightening word. In many instances, it's a killer and it's something that you have to deal with in a very serious and determined way if you're going to beat it - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

It appears that immunotherapy research is finally going to pay dividends when it comes to leukemia.

"A treatment that genetically alters a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer has, for the first time, produced remissions in adults with an acute leukemia that is usually lethal, researchers are reporting. In one patient who was severely ill, all traces of leukemia vanished in eight days.

“We had hoped, but couldn’t have predicted that the response would be so profound and rapid,” said Dr. Renier J. Brentjens, the first author of a new study of the therapy and a specialist in leukemia at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

The treatment is experimental, has been used in only a small number of patients and did not work in all of them. But experts consider it a highly promising approach for a variety of malignancies, including other blood cancers and tumors in organs like the prostate gland...

The treatment uses patients’ own T-cells, a type of white blood cell that normally fights viruses and cancer. The patient’s blood is run through a machine that extracts T-cells and returns the rest of the blood to the body.

Researchers then do some genetic engineering: they use a disabled virus as a “vector” to carry new genetic material into the T cells, which reprograms them to recognize and kill any cell that carries a particular protein on its surface." Source: Denise Grady, Cell Therapy Shows Promise for Acute Type of Leukemia, The New York Times, March 20, 2013.

A Breakthrough Cure for Leukemia?

This week a group of scientists from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center published what may be a genuine breakthrough in the search for a cure for cancer.

Children with Leukemia

The Jennifer Lynn Stroud Foundation promotes research for a leukemia cure and offers educational, emotional and spiritual support to families impacted by pediatric cancer.

Leukaemia CARE

Leukaemia CARE exists to provide vital care and support to all those whose lives are affected by leukaemia, lymphoma and the allied blood disorders.

Leukemia

Leukemia covers all aspects of the research and treatment of Leukemia and Allied Diseases. Studies of normal hemopoiesis are covered because of their comparative relevance. Topics of interest include oncogenes, growth factors, stem cells, leukemia genomics, cell cycle, signal transduction, molecular targets for therapy and more.

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services.

Luekemia Research Foundation

The Leukemia Research Foundation’s leadership is made up of people who have coped with, firsthand, the death of a loved one, or have personally survived a blood cancer diagnosis themselves. As a result, decisions regarding LRF programs and services are based upon personal experience as well as true compassion with the hope that in the future no one will experience what they, themselves have endured.

CancerConnect.com

Knowledge is power. Are you facing a new diagnosis, recurrence, living with metastatic disease, or supporting a loved one through their cancer journey? The Cancer Connect Leukemia Information Center has current, evidence-based information for you.

eMedicineHealth

Leukemia affects people of all ages. Approximately 85% of leukemias in children are of the acute type.

KidsHealth

The ALL form of the disease most commonly occurs in younger children ages 2 to 8, with a peak incidence at age 4. But it can affect all age groups.

LifeExtension

Life Extension is a global authority on health, wellness and nutrition as well as a provider of scientific information on anti-aging therapies.

MayoClinic.com

Leukemia is cancer of your body's blood-forming tissues, including the bone marrow and lymphatic system. The word "leukemia" means "white blood" in Greek.

MD Anderson Cancer Center

Leukemia is cancer of blood-forming tissue such as bone marrow. Types of leukemia are grouped by the type of cell affected and by the rate of cell growth. Leukemia is either acute or chronic.

MedicineNet.com

Leukemia Information & Related Articles

MedlinePlus

Leukemia can develop quickly or slowly. Chronic leukemia grows slowly. In acute leukemia, the cells are very abnormal and their number increases rapidly. Adults can get either type; childen with leukemia most often have an acute type. Some leukemias can often be cured.

National Cancer Institute

Learn about leukemia symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and questions to ask the doctor.

Wikipedia

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