Leukemia or blood cancer is the abnormal growth of the blood cells in the body of the person. There are many causes for the blood cancer to occur and they are listed here.

ETIOLOGY OF LEUKEMIA
The most important truth is that the etiology of leukemia is not known in most patients,
However a number of factors have been implicated in the cause of Leukemia and they are as follows.

1. Chemical carcinogens mainly benzene and other hydrocarbons that enter wither directly or indirectly into the body of the person could cause the blood to react and lead to cancer in the blood.

2. Ionizing radiation exposure, when patients receiving radiation therapy and Japanese survivors of atomic bomb explosions have been found to have changes in the blood and the constituents and they started suffering abnormal growth in the blood cells and this has caused the blood cancer to occur.

3. Genetic factors: Identical twins have concordance rate of developing leukemia and this can also be one of the causes of Leukemia.

4. Certain drug treatments with alkylating agents and other chemotherapeutic agents are associated with increased incidence of acute leukemia. Though these drugs are given to the person to try and cure another disease, over a period of time, because of prolonged use, blood cancer occurs.

These all factors basically have a common mode of action of causing mutation (sudden change in DNA) which transforms normal stem cells to cancerous cells.
DNA is the nuclear material inside every living cell which controls all its activities.

Experts classify leukemia into 2Ãâ€"2 groups

The first kind of classification is based on the basis of history involved in the occurrence of the disease. It is also based to a large extent on the onset of the disease.

1. Acute leukemia, as the name indicates, occurs when patient develops a sudden onset of this disease and can appear in just a few days. There can be various signs that appear in a matter of days. The progression of the disease also can be swift and the person starts having various kinds of effects in the few weeks after the diagnosis of the disease. The prognosis of the disease is also very poor because the disease progresses very quicly and can cause the person to suffer a great deal.

2. Chronic leukemia, as the name indicates is chronic in nature and the disease slowly progresses over a long period of time and this can be a long drawn out battle, but could have a better prognosis as the disease can be controlled in various stages of the disease.

Both cases are further divided into

(B) On the basis of cells involved
Myeloid leukemia- cancer of myeloid stem cells

Lymphoid leukemia is a type of cancer that affects the lymphoid stem cells

These are the various kinds of blood cancer that occurs in the person. There are different kinds of clinical features that are associated with the blood cancer and they can change when they are adequately treated.

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