QUESTION Childhood acute leukemia: the use of molecular markers in diagnosis

QUESTION Childhood acute leukemia: the use of molecular markers in diagnosis

CHILDHOOD ACUTE LEUKEMIA: THE USE OF MOLECULAR MARKERS IN DIAGNOSIS

ANSWER
Childhood acute leukemia (CAL) is a type of cancer that affects younger people. It’s the most common form of childhood cancer, and it occurs in about 3,800 new cases each year in the United States. The disease is usually diagnosed between 2 and 5 years old, but can occur at any age.

CAL is one of the most common cancers among children and adolescents in the United States. It strikes children of all races and ethnic groups but is more common in boys than girls. It’s rare for infants to develop CAL, but it does occur; however, infants with this cancer are typically older when diagnosed than infants with other types of leukemia.

CAL begins when abnormal cells leave a child’s bone marrow (the soft tissue inside bones that produces red blood cells). These abnormal cells grow quickly and crowd out normal ones in the bone marrow, causing them to die off or be damaged by radiation therapy or chemotherapy treatments. Most patients treated for CAL have no symptoms until this process has occurred. Once these cells have been eliminated from the bone marrow they cannot grow back because they do not produce enough healthy blood cells to replace those lost during treatment.