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ALL Subtypes

The subtypes of ALL are identified based on certain features of the leukemia cells. Determining the ALL subtype is an important factor in treatment planning. The doctor will discuss with you which drug combinations are indicated based on your child’s ALL subtype.

Leukemia cells can be classified by the unique set of proteins found on their surface. These unique sets of proteins are known as “immunophenotypes.” Based on immunophenotyping of the leukemia cell, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ALL into two main subtypes.

Diarrhea and Constipation

Diarrhea and constipation are common side effects of cancer treatment. The severity of diarrhea or constipation varies among patients and depends on the type of treatment you receive. Sometimes side effects improve as you adjust to treatment. Most side effects go away when treatment ends.

Tell your healthcare team if you are experiencing new or worsening diarrhea or constipation. Do not take over-the-counter medications without talking to your doctor.

Follow these tips to manage diarrhea:

Pain

A cancer diagnosis does not mean that you will have pain. Still, many people with cancer do have pain at some point. Good pain control is part of proper cancer care.

Managing pain may result in better treatment outcomes, so patients should talk to their healthcare team about their pain right away. Left untreated, pain can:

Treatment

There is not one treatment that is effective for all myelofibrosis (MF) patients. Patients have varying symptoms and circumstances that require different treatment options. Some MF patients remain symptom-free for many years and do not require immediate treatment. All MF patients, however, need to be closely monitored.

Palliative Care

Palliative care and the medical specialty of Palliative Medicine refers to specialized medical care focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family. Palliative care is provided by a team of specialists, including palliative care doctors, nurses and social workers who work with a patient's other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and any stage in a serious illness, and it can be provided along with curative treatment.

Brent

My nephew Brent Terence was a perfectly healthy 17-year-old young man, active in school, up-to-date on his routine check-ups, and had normal labs. But until the end of July 2022, Terence showed signs of extreme fatigue, confusion, loss of memory, hallucination, and an inability to keep his eyes open and walk straight. So his parents, Brenda and Tristan, decided to take him to the ER. Multiple blood tests and X-rays were done, but they couldn’t figure it out.

Treatment

It's important that your doctor is experienced in treating patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) or has access to a CML specialist. Doctors who specialize in treating patients with CML are called “hematologist-oncologists.”  

Click the links below to read about types of treatment for CML.

Chemotherapy and Drug Therapy

The main treatment for active myeloma is systemic drug therapy (meaning the drugs travel through the bloodstream to kill malignant cells). The initial therapy, or “induction therapy,” for myeloma usually includes a combination of targeted agents and/or standard chemotherapy. This therapy is often followed by stem cell transplantation in eligible patients.

Induction therapy, given before the transplant, has several goals:

Nausea and Vomiting

Many cancer treatments can cause nausea and vomiting. Nausea, also called feeling “queasy” or “sick to your stomach,” is that unpleasant feeling you have when you are going to throw up. Vomiting is throwing up what is inside your stomach through the mouth. Nausea and vomiting can happen together, or one can occur without the other. The severity of nausea and vomiting varies among patients. Sometimes these side effects improve as you adjust to treatment, and most side effects go away after treatment ends.

Other Disease Studies

Another type of study that blood cancer patients and their relatives can participate in is a nontherapeutic study. Nontherapeutic studies aren't considered clinical trials because they don't involve the study of new diagnostics or treatments for diseases. Instead, they're developed to gain a better understanding of disease-incidence patterns or the consequences of specific treatments for a specific disease.

In all cases, you should be asked to sign a consent form that defines the study's purpose and what's expected from the participants.

Paul

Biosimilars

Many drugs developed are called biological products (known as biologics, also known as the reference product) because they are produced through biotechnology and use living systems, such as a microorganism or a plant cell. Monoclonal antibodies and vaccines are some examples of biological products. Because the makeup of biologics are very complex, it is hard to create imitations of the drug. Some drug development is simple, like following a recipe with standard ingredients.

Graft-Versus-Host Disease

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a potentially serious complication of allogeneic stem cell transplantation and reduced-intensity allogeneic stem cell transplantation. In this treatment, a patient’s own damaged or diseased blood-forming stem cells are destroyed. Then they are replaced with healthy stem cells from a donor.

NHL Subtypes

More than 60 specific NHL subtypes have been identified and assigned names by the World Health Organization (WHO). NHL subtypes are categorized by the characteristics of the lymphoma cells, including their appearance, the presence of proteins on the surface of the cells and their genetic features. It's important to know your subtype since it plays a large part in determining the type of treatment you'll receive. A hematopathologist, a doctor who specializes in the diagnosis of blood disorders and blood cancers, should review your biopsy specimens.

Patrick

It was November 2023. The doctor looked at me and said, “Mr. Reese, I’m terribly sorry to have to tell you this, but the leukemia has relapsed again. Combined with the graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) that is currently raging, we no longer have options for treatment. Our suggestion is that you start comfort care through hospice.”

Amy

In December 2015, our son, William, started complaining of leg/knee pain. William had always been an active boy, so we figured that he must have just hurt himself doing something physical. After a few days of the pain continuing, my husband thought that maybe it was “growing pains.” We continued to keep an eye on it but weren’t too concerned at this point. By the end of the week, I called our pediatrician for an appointment. William had an exam and bloodwork done. He was also given antibiotics.

Paul

Thank you on behalf of the Freeman Wilner Family for this Honored Hero Award in memory of my father, Dr. Freeman Wilner, he was a hero to many.

Lisa

It was 2009. Obama had just been sworn in as president, captain Sully successfully landed United Airlines flight 1549 on the Hudson River during an aircraft malfunction, and all souls on board survived.

Questions & Answers

The health insurance marketplace – sometimes referred to as the health insurance exchange – is where consumers can purchase health insurance plans that comply with the patient protections in the Affordable Care Act.

Delena

I was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) at the age of two in 1981. I was sent to Riley Hospital for Children for assessment and to create a treatment plan.  At the time of my diagnosis, my mom was a single mother of two young daughters. My father passed away from Ewing sarcoma in April 1979. I was eight months old, and my sister was four when he passed.

Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI) Therapy

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are a type of targeted therapy. TKIs come as pills, taken orally. A targeted therapy identifies and attacks specific types of cancer cells while causing less damage to normal cells. In CML, TKIs target the abnormal BCR::ABL1 protein that causes uncontrolled CML cell growth and block its function, causing the CML cells to die. 

The first therapy given for a disease is called “initial” or “first-line” treatment. The following four TKI drugs are approved as first-line treatment for chronic phase CML:

Jessica

Monica

I am currently 23 years of age and I’m from South Africa.  This is my story of my journey with Hodgkin lymphoma. This is a story of hope, a story of victory and a story meant to inspire those affected to keep holding on.  Towards late October of 2019, I noticed a bump protruding on my chest. It was a very hard and rigid bump which didn’t move. I was still in university completing my post-graduate diploma in accounting, so I didn’t think too much about it, my main stress was to complete my degree.

Dax

“I just wanted to let you guys know that I’m so supportive of everybody who likes my stuff even though not a lot of people like my stuff – like I’m not huge or anything – I’m pretty small. I just want to show you guys support, and even though I know most of it is just my friends, people I know, who I’ve met, that really helps when you see appreciation for things that you do.”