CLL is a lymphoid malignancy that occurs in a heterogeneous patient population. Lymphoid malignancy is a term used to describe a cancerous tumor that can spread and invades surrounding lymph nodes. CLL is caused by the overproduction of abnormal b lymphocytes. This is in contrast to the term begin, which references conditions are not necessarily invasive and do not spread throughout the body. Heterogeneous can be described as the diversity of nearly anything whether its population, classrooms, or collections. Patients may be risk stratified into low, intermediate, and high-risk categories based on prognostic factors, which may influence the approach to treatments. Differences in cell morphology, immunophenotype, cytogenetics, and molecular characteristics impact the clinical courses of disease and individual patient response. Cell morphology is essential in identifying the shape, structure, form, and size of cells. In cancer, for instance, cell morphology pertains to the shape and size of the cancer cells. Immunophenotype is the study of the lymphoma cells and is critical in the definitive diagnosis of anaplastic large cell lymphoma. Cytogenetics is to determine chromosome changes in cells, and molecular genetic studies which are the DNA and RNA tests of the cancer cells. Molecular is consisting of molecules, which would be relating to a simple structure or form. The effect of aging upon medical fitness and comorbidities differs greatly among individuals and is a
References: http://www.biooncology.com Wierda WG, Keating MJ, O 'Brien S. Chronic lymphocytic leukemias. In: DeVita VT, Lawrence TS, Rosenberg SA, eds. Cancer: Principles & Practice of Oncology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008:2278-2292 Müller-Hermelink HK, Montserrat E, Catovsky D, Campo E, Harris NL, Stein H. Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma. In: Swerdlow SH, Campo E, Harris NL, eds. WHO Classification of Tumours of Haematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues. 4th ed. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2008:180-182. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/leukemia-chroniclymphocyticcll/detailedguide/leukemia-chronic-lymphocytic-key-statistics. http://pricesmartfoods.mediresource.com/pharmacy/disease_detail.asp?disease_id=292