Monthly Archives: June 2009

If you are suffering from leukemia, you will have to face many new challenges. These challenges will also be there for your family and close friends. You may worry about how the disease will affect your ability to live a normal life, take care of your family, work, leisure activities and friendships.

It is common for many leukemia patients to get depressed and anxious after being diagnosed with the disease. Some people get angry and resentful about their condition, while others feel helpless and overwhelmed.

However, support groups and counseling can work wonders for leukemia patients. Just talking about their concerns, worries and feelings can make them feel better. There are some patients who rather suffer alone than burden their family with their worries and concerns. These patients can benefit a lot just by talking to a neutral person, who can be a professional counselor, social worker or a clergyman.

Most leukemia patients are immensely helped just by talking to others who have the same disease. They realize that they are not alone and there are many other people like them. They figure out that most people also have the same worries and concerns like they do and this helps to ease a lot of stress and anxiety. Many support groups gradually involve the family so that family members can understand and cope with the disease. Usually the medical center where you are getting treated will be able to guide you to a leukemia support group. Or else, you can write to the American Cancer Society or check out their website to find a group in your city.

Lymphoplasmacytic disorder is a disease that affects the lymphoplasmacyte cells that produce monoclonal light chained immunoglobulins, which are part of the immune system.

Light chain deposit disease is a lymphoplasmacytic disorder that has uncommon monoclonal gammopathy (IgG). The symptoms should be monitored carefully in patients who also have renal disease. The diagnosis of this disease is easy when monoclonal light chains are present in the serum or urine and the renal biopsy exhibits typical morphological changes and stains for kappa or lambda light chains. It becomes difficult to diagnose when the patient does not have a known lymphoplasmacytic disorder and the monoclonal light chains are detectable only erratically.

Waldenstrom¹s macroglobulinemia (WM) is a well-known malignant disorder of lymphoplasmacytic cells that produce a monoclonal immunoglobulin M (IgM). The standardized criterion that is now established for diagnosis of this disease, includes the presence of any IgM monoclonal protein and marrow and nodal lymphoplasmacytic cells in the blood and its hyperviscosity due to increased levels of a class of heavy proteins called macroglobulins. A distinctive feature of WM is the presence of an IgM monoclonal protein that is produced by the cancer cells, and a simultaneous decrease in levels of uninvolved immunoglobulins IgG and IgA.

Many symptoms are due to the effects of the IgM paraprotein that produces autoimmune phenomenon and due to the hyperviscosity syndrome, which is attributed to the IgM monoclonal protein increasing the viscosity of the blood. Symptoms of this are manifested mainly as neurologic symptoms and can include blurring or loss of vision, headache, and at times stroke.

Monocyte function is abnormal in patients with multiple myeloma and can be further reversibly inhibited by high paraprotein levels. Further research is needed to confirm and ascertain whether monocyte function can be normalized using chemotherapy or growth factors, and whether they could be used in the treatment of this currently incurable condition.

In recent years, after intense research and study, autologous bone marrow transplantation has been included to the available treatment options.

Lymphoma can be explained as malignant proliferation of cells that originate in the lymphatic system of the body. Lymphomas belong to a definite group of diseases called hematological neoplasms. Lymphomas are broadly classified into Hodgkin’s lymphoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL).

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is described as uncontrolled proliferation of cancer cells that are originally found in the organs of lymphatic system including thymus, lymph nodes, spleen and tonsils. There are various classifications of NHL depending on the growth of the cancerous cells, their origin and their size. Depending on the growth, NHL can be classified into high-grade, intermediate grade and low-grade lymphoma. With relation to the origin of the lymphoma, NHL is divided into T-cell lymphoma and B-cell lymphoma. NHL could also be classified into anaplastic large cell lymphoma, small cell lymphoma and mixed cell lymphoma depending on the cell size. Another classification is diffusive and follicular type of NHL that is based on the spreading of the disease.

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is primarily caused in immuno-compromised individuals who are infected with microorganisms such as HIV/AIDS, EBV, Helicobacter pylori, HTLV-1 and Hepatitis C. Age is also another prominent factor. NHL has been primarily observed in individuals aged above 60.

Some common symptoms observed during NHL include fever, swollen but painless lymph nodes, unusual weight loss, excessive sweating, fatigue, uncontrolled cough and breathing problem. Diagnosis of the disease is done through physical examination of lymph nodes, Blood cell counts. The stage of the disease is established through X-rays, CT scans, MRI scan and biopsy.

Some of the common therapeutic approaches for treating NHL include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or bone marrow transplantation and immunotherapy using Rituximab. Chemotherapy regimen used for treating NHL is known as CHOP, a combinatorial approach using drugs like Cytoxan, Hydroxyrubicin (Adriamycin), Oncovin (Vincristine) and Prednisone/Prednisolone.