Acute myeloid leukaemia(AML)
Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)
Primary or secondary AML
If the AML originates, it is called de novo leukaemia or primary AML.Have you previously been treated with chemotherapy for another type of cancer? Or have you previously had myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)? Then there is therapy-related AML or secondary AML.
People with primary AML have a better chance of cure than people with secondary AML.
 |
| Acute myeloid leukaemia(AML) |
Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)
Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is a malignant disease that takes its
origin from immature precursors of red blood cells, blood platelets, and
a portion of white blood cells. AML is the most common form of acute leukemia in adults.
Thanks to the intensive research carried out over the last decades,
treatment options and healing options have improved significantly. The diagnosis of an AML should therefore not lead to hopelessness. An earlier incurable illness has in many cases become curable!
Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is a malignant disease of the blood-forming system (blood cancer), in which an early precursor of a myeloid cell degenerates and increases uncontrolled. Myeloid cells include the red blood cells, blood platelets, and some white blood cells. In healthy people, the proliferation and renewal of the blood cells is strictly regulated. At the AML, this process has got out of control:
Through the changes of the genetic material, the affected cell begins to divide and multiply unbraked without developing into normal, functional blood cells. The resulting cells are called myelotic blasts . They spread rapidly in the bone marrow and hinder the formation of healthy blood corpuscles there. The blasts can finally be distributed in the body via the blood and other organs can be attacked and damaged.
Through the changes of the genetic material, the affected cell begins to divide and multiply unbraked without developing into normal, functional blood cells. The resulting cells are called myelotic blasts . They spread rapidly in the bone marrow and hinder the formation of healthy blood corpuscles there. The blasts can finally be distributed in the body via the blood and other organs can be attacked and damaged.
Causes and frequency
Acute myelogenous leukemia is not a hereditary disease and, like other
cancers, is neither contagious nor can it be transmitted to other
people. The cause of the AML are malignant genetic changes in the bone marrow acquired in the course of life. Ionizing radiation and certain chemical substances are considered as risk factors.
Even some medicines, which are used for the treatment of cancer
diseases, can occasionally trigger a so-called secondary AML in rare
cases even years later.
Patients with various diseases of the blood or bone marrow (eg with a
myelodysplastic syndrome) or genetic diseases such as Down syndrome also
have an increased risk of developing AML. In the vast majority of cases, however, it remains unclear what the cause of the disease has been.
Acute myelogenous leukemia is a rare disease with 3.5 new diagnoses per 100,000 inhabitants every year, but the most frequent form of acute leukemia in Germany. Men are slightly more affected than women. In contrast to ALL, which predominantly occurs in children, AML is a disease of the elderly - about half of the patients is over 70 years.
Acute myelogenous leukemia is a rare disease with 3.5 new diagnoses per 100,000 inhabitants every year, but the most frequent form of acute leukemia in Germany. Men are slightly more affected than women. In contrast to ALL, which predominantly occurs in children, AML is a disease of the elderly - about half of the patients is over 70 years.
symptoms
The symptoms of the AML usually develop within a few weeks.
They arise on the one hand due to the lack of normal blood cells and on
the other hand by the attack of organs with myeloid blasts.
Very common symptoms
- Blood loss (anemia, reduction of red blood cells ) leads to pallor, fatigue, fatigue, diminished efficiency, shortness of breath, general weakness and malaise
- Fever and / or increased susceptibility to infections caused by white blood cells (leukopenia)
- Abdominal pain and loss of appetite by enlargement (organ attack) of spleen and / or liver
- Increasing leukocytes (leukocytosis) by the overproduction of lymphatic blasts
Common symptoms
- Reduction of platelets (thrombopenia) causes bleeding (small punctiform skin bleeding (petechia), bruises, nasal bleeding, prolonged bleeding, eg after a visit to the dentist or after injuries, prolonged bleeding in women, rarely also hemorrhage)
- Lymph node swelling on the neck, armpits or groin
- Joint and bone pain caused by the spread of the blasts into the bone
Rare symptoms
- Involvement of the brain, spinal cord or brain with neurological changes such as headache, visual disturbances, vomiting or nervous paralysis
- Changes in the skin and chlorome (storage of blasts eg in the skin or in the bone marrow)
- difficulty in breathing
Some patients have little discomfort and the leukemia is discovered by chance during a routine blood test.
