Leukemia: Definition, Clinical Picture, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prognosis (Essay Sample)

Leukemia
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Leukemia
Introduction
Leukemia is one of the most common cancers in the United States, causing the deaths of thousands of people each year. Personal interest in researching the disease derives from its diversity. Multiple forms of the disease exist depending on the blood-forming cell affected. Therefore, the project would increase my understanding of leukemia and perhaps inspire future research on aspects such as risk factors and treatment.
Definition
Leukemia is a clonal cancer of leucocytes in the blood and organs responsible for forming blood. The disorder causes the uncontrolled division of malignant leucocytes resulting in congestion in the bone marrow (McCance & Huether, 2014). Accordingly, there is decreased production of normal blood cells. Leukemia is classified based on the rate of progression of the disease and cell of origin. Regarding the progression of the cancer, leukemia can either be acute or chronic. Acute leukemia features rapidly dividing, undifferentiated cells. The disease starts abruptly and has a short survival time. On the other hand, chronic leukemia features more differentiated cells that function abnormally. The disease progresses relatively slowly. Regarding cell of origin, leukemia is classified as either myeloid or lymphocytic. The former develops from myeloid cells which typically develop into erythrocytes, leucocytes, and platelets. The latter develops from lymphocytic cells which usually develop into leucocytes. Based on the two methods of classification, there are four major types of leukemia: acute lymphocytic, acute myeloid, chronic lymphocytic, and chronic myeloid (Cleveland Clinic, 2019). The most common acute leukemia is acute myeloid leukemia, while the most common chronic leukemia