Sunday 10 August 2008

Early Warning Of Leukaemia Or False Alarm?

�Researchers have for the first clip shown that many people have cells in their blood which appear identical to cancer of the blood and even so the risk of exposure of developing the disease for most is well-nigh zero. This has prompted the enquiry that spell early signal detection of genus Cancer greatly improves the chances of successful treatment, is it possible that some cancers are being detected too early?



Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is the most unwashed leukaemia in the western world and is often detected in people wHO do not have whatsoever symptoms. Only about half of these people will ever indigence treatment with chemotherapy for CLL. For those world Health Organization never grow symptoms the greatest problem is the stress and anxiety associated with a diagnosis of leukaemia.



Using a common blood test, it is possible to detect CLL-like cells in about 1 in 20 adults. Fewer than 1 in 1,000 adults will evolve CLL, and therefore many scientists sentiment that these leukaemia-like cells would turn out to be a rare merely otherwise normal cell type which should be readily distinguishable from CLL.



However, studies funded by Leukaemia Research and published today in the New England Journal of Medicine establish that these cells are abnormal in many shipway. In fact, the leukaemia-like cells so closely resemble CLL that the most advanced techniques cannot tell them apart. Dr Andy Rawstron, wHO led the research, aforementioned: " the merely clear difference from CLL is that these cells do non multiply and expand over time " .



The researchers at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals then went on to assess the risk factors for developing progressive disease by reviewing the issue for various hundred individuals diagnosed with CLL 'tween 1995 and 2000 merely with relatively low levels of CLL cells in their blood. Fewer than one in ten compulsory chemotherapy.



As the first-class honours degree study to provide five-year outcome data for this group of patients, the information has been primal to changing the diagnostic criteria for CLL. Between 500 and 1,000 people per year in the UK with lower levels of CLL cells will no longer be classified as having leukaemia. Dr Rawstron said: " It is now inevitable that routine blood line tests identify individuals with leukaemia-like cells. As a result of this sketch we have a better understanding of the risk of infection of disease progression for individuals with early stage CLL. We can habit this data to downplay unnecessary focus and anxiety. For individuals with very low levels of CLL-like cells in their blood the risk of development the disease is virtually zero. "




The findings ar published in the New England Journal of Medicine.



1.The account is published on 7 August 2008 in the New England Journal of Medicine under the title 'MBL: a precursor department of State for CLL'. Senior authors: Dr Andy Rawstron, Dr Peter Hillmen and Dr Andrew Jack - all of Leeds Teaching Hospitals.



2.The exploit was funded by Leukaemia Research and the Ellis family.



3. Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is the most common form of leukaemia ground in the western world. It is a malignant neoplastic disease of the blood cells that are responsible for the production of antibodies in response to infection. The relative incidence of CLL increases with age and most patients are over 50 days of age. Although CLL may be an aggressive and fateful condition, many patients throw a stable disease that may not require active treatment or significantly shorten their lives.



4. Leukaemia Research is the only when national charity devoted entirely to improving treatments, finding cures and learning how to keep leukaemia, Hodgkin's and other lymphomas, myeloma and the related blood disorders, diagnosed in 24,500 people in the UK every year.



5. Over the next five years, Leukaemia Research urgently needs to raise over �100million to commit to new research. From basic laboratory research to clinical trials with patients, Leukaemia Research is committed to saving lives by backing high character, carefully selected research end-to-end the UK. Further information, including patient information booklets, is uncommitted from hTTP://www.lrf.org.uk.

Leukaemia Research


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