Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. AML is characterised by an overproduction of immature white blood cells, called myeloblasts or leukaemic blasts. AML is generally a disease of older people and is rare before the age of 45.The average age of a patient with AML is about 67 years. AML is slightly more common among men than among women. A few symptoms that can assist in early detection of AML are listed below:
- Bleeding from the nose
- Bleeding gums
- Bruising
- Bone pain or tenderness
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Heavy menstrual periods
If you have any of the symptoms mentioned here, you should have them checked by our doctors at Paras hospitals.
Causes of AML
Persons with this type of cancer have abnormal cells inside their bone marrow. The cells grow very quickly and replace healthy blood cells. The bone marrow, which helps the body fight infections, eventually stops working correctly. Persons with AML are more likely to have infections and have an increased risk for bleeding as the number of healthy blood cells decrease.
Risk-Most of the time, a doctor cannot tell you what caused AML. However, the following things can lead to some types of leukaemia, including AML:
- Blood disorders, including polycythemia vera, thrombocythemia, and myelodysplasia
- Certain chemicals (for example, benzene)
- Certain chemotherapy drugs, including etoposide and drugs known as alkylating agents
- Exposure to certain chemicals and harmful substances
- Radiation
- Weakened immune system due to an organ transplant.
Once AML has been diagnosed, our cancer care team will discuss your treatment options with you. Treatment involves using medicines to kill the cancer cells. This is called chemotherapy. Most types of AML are treated the same way, with more than one chemotherapy drug, such as daunorubicin and cytarabine. At Paras hospital, appropriate steps are taken to reduce the side-effects arising out of chemotherapy.These patients are followed for two weeks. If they feel marked weakness, fever, vomitings, scanty urine, inability to take food, then blood counts & other laboratory tests are done. If the test is abnormal then the patient has treated accordingly.
