Leukemia is a type of cancer. Cancer is a group of more than 100 diseases that have two important things in common. One is that certain cells in the body become abnormal. Another is that the body keeps producing large numbers of these abnormal cells.
Leukemia is cancer of the blood cells. To understand Leukemia, it is helpful to know about normal blood cells and what happens to them when leukemia develops.
Normal Blood Cells
The Blood is made up of fluid called plasma and three types of cells. Each type has special functions.
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White Blood Cells (also called WBCs or Leukocytes) help the body fight infections and other diseases.
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Red Blood Cells (also called RBCs or erythrocytes) carry oxygen from the lungs to the body's tissues and take carbon dioxide from the tissues back to the lungs. The red blood cells give blood its color.
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Platelets (also called thrombocytes) help form blood clots that control bleeding.
Blood cells are formed in the bone marrow, the soft, spongy center of bones. New (immature) blood cells are called blasts. Some Blasts stay in the marrow to mature. Some travel to other parts of the body to mature.
Normally, blood cells are produced in an orderly, controlled way, as the body needs them. This process helps keep us healthy.
Leukemia Cells
When Leukemia develops, the body produces large numbers of abnormal blood cells. In most types of Leukemia, the abnormal cells are white blood cells. The Leukemia cells usually look different from normal blood cells, and they do not function properly.
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