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What part of the skeletal system does leukemia affect?
Diseases & Conditions Leukemia is a cancer that develops in bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside most bones. In patients with leukemia, the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood cells. These abnormal cells do not work the same way as healthy white blood cells.
How do you detect leukemia?
A blood test showing an abnormal white cell count may suggest the diagnosis. To confirm the diagnosis and identify the specific type of leukemia, a needle biopsy and aspiration of bone marrow from a pelvic bone will need to be done to test for leukemic cells, DNA markers, and chromosome changes in the bone marrow.
Where is bone pain in leukemia?
Bone pain can occur in leukemia patients when the bone marrow expands from the accumulation of abnormal white blood cells and may manifest as a sharp pain or a dull pain, depending on the location. The long bones of the legs and arms are the most common location to experience this pain.
What does leukemia look like on skin?
Leukemia cutis appears as red or purplish red, and it occasionally looks dark red or brown. It affects the outer skin layer, the inner skin layer, and the layer of tissue beneath the skin. The rash can involve flushed skin, plaques, and scaly lesions. It most commonly appears on the trunk, arms, and legs.
Where does leukemia usually start in the body?
Leukemias are cancers that start in cells that would normally develop into different types of blood cells. Most often, leukemia starts in early forms of white blood cells, but some leukemias start in other blood cell types.
How does leukemia affect the white blood cells?
Leukemia is a type of cancer that affects the body’s blood-forming cells in the bone marrow and lymphatic system. It can take one of several forms and spread at different rates, but most types of leukemia disrupt the production of healthy white blood cells that are designed to multiply, fight infections and die off.
What makes up the bone marrow in leukemia?
To understand leukemia, it helps to know about the blood and lymph systems. Bone marrow is the soft inner part of certain bones. It is made up of blood-forming cells, fat cells, and supporting tissues. A small fraction of the blood-forming cells are blood stem cells. Inside the bone marrow, blood stem cells develop into new blood cells.
How are the different types of leukemia classified?
Doctors classify leukemia based on its speed of progression and the type of cells involved. The first type of classification is by how fast the leukemia progresses: Acute leukemia. In acute leukemia, the abnormal blood cells are immature blood cells (blasts).