 Once
the symptoms have motivated you to seek a doctor's opinion, there
are several ways that he might attempt to diagnose whether or not
you or the patient has Leukemia. At first, he will order blood tests.
Things that will indicate to him the presence of Leukemia will be
Anemia (a red-blood-cell count that is too low, Leukopenia (a low
count on the white cells), Neutropenia (a low number of neutrophils,
white cells that destroy bacteria), Thrombocytopenia (too few blood-clotting
platelets), or Thrombocytosis (too many platelets). If these tests
indicate the possibility of Leukemia, more in-depth tests will be
conducted, which could include any of the following:
- Bone marrow tests: A sample of the one marrow is taken from
the pelvis as the patient through an injection with a needle
that sucks out the sample.
- Lymph Node Biopsy: The patient is asleep as a doctor removes
the lymph node for diagnosis.
- Lumbar puncture: The attending doctor inserts a small needle
in the lower back's spinal cavity to withdraw spinal fluid,
which will then be examined for Leukemia cells.
Once a positive diagnosis has been made, there are several ways
to treat the Leukemia. Which type works best in any situation
depends on the patient's age, health, and how far the cancerous
cells have spread. And in some cases, multiple forms of treatment
might be used. The accepted treatment options are:
- Chemotherapy: This is the process of killing the cancer cells
with special chemical agents, which can be taken through a pill
or be injected into a vein.
- Immunotherapy: This is a treatment option that bolsters the
patient's immunity through the use of certain substances.
- Kinase inhibitors: Imatinib mesylate, dasatinib and nilotinib
are three drugs that inhibit proteins that make Leukemia deadly.
- Radiation therapy: This is the treatment method that uses
X-Rays to stop Leukemia cells from growing and ideally to kill
them.
- Bone marrow transplant: As the name implies, this procedure
removes the bone marrow with the Leukemia cells and replaces
it with good marrow. The process is normally used in conjunction
with either chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
- Stem cell transplant: Unlike a marrow transplant, cells are
taken from stem cells in the person's blood cell; these cells
are then transplanted in place of the cells with Leukemia.
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Nilotinib
What Is Nilotinib?