Acute Leukemia Essay

Acute leukemia is a form of blood cancer that is produced from the white blood cells in the bone marrow. Both chronic and acute leukemia forms make up 3% of all new cancer cases in the world. Acute leukemia in women has the same treatment and survival outcomes as it does for men. The chances of getting this disease are actually slightly higher for men than women. However, it causes many more challenges for women than men during therapy and more long-term health problems. The cells in acute leukemia form at a very fast rate in the bone marrow and replace the functioning counterparts, which causes this disease. There are two main types of acute leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is seen more often than acute myeloid leukemia in children under the age of
If it does pop up the method of treatment is usually based upon what trimester of pregnancy the woman is in. Those that are diagnosed during the first trimester are recommended to terminate the pregnancy because of the outcome chances. If they receive the anthracycline-containing regimens and keep the baby, there are chances of fetal death and malformation. If they still decide to keep the baby, they will still receive conventional chemotherapy and be closely watched. There are different options of treatment for those in their second or third trimester. Some evidence reports that it is possible to have a safe pregnancy while receiving chemotherapy at this time. There was a successful delivery for 73% out of 160 pregnant women diagnosed with different cancers and treated with anthracyclines. While there may be possibilities of a safe pregnancy during chemotherapy, there is also a long-term risk to the fetus. Pregnant women that are treated with chemotherapy for hematologic malignancies, have the highest rate of long-term risk of this chemotherapy exposure in