CML news for the newcomer and the forgetful!

[Guest guest]

" Bone marrow is the soft tissue inside bones where blood cells are made. CML

occurs when the bone marrow makes too many unformed cells called blasts. Blasts

normally become white blood cells that fight infection. But in CML, the blasts

do not develop and cannot fight infection. Large numbers of these defective

cells collect in bone marrow and blood.

http://www.caring4cancer.com/go/cml

" The basis of all these cells is a stem cell, also called a " mother cell " or

" blast. " When you have leukemia, the stem cells no longer function properly.

Instead, they become abnormal and are unable to transform into the mature blood

cells and platelets needed by the body. "

" Leukemias are identified as " acute " when 20 percent to 30 percent of the white

cells in your bone marrow, or blasts are immature, or not fully developed.

Leukemia is defined as chronic when less than 5 percent to 10 percent of the

blasts are immature.

" Below are links to more detailed information about the diagnosis and treatment

of the four most common forms of leukemia and on myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS),

a condition sometimes referred to as " preleukemia. "

· Acute myeloid leukemia (AML)

· Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL)

· Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)

· Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)

· Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)

http://www.caring4cancer.com/go/leukemia#Intro

_________________________________________________

Chemotherapy and Fertility

" Italian researchers say they have identified the mechanism by which

chemotherapy can rob a woman of her ability to have children. Intriguingly, the

scientists also found that another anti-cancer drug might counteract the

negative effects of the chemotherapy drug cisplatin. The finding, demonstrated

in mice and reported in the Sept. 27 online edition of Nature Medicine, raises

the hope that there might be a way to protect a woman's fertility while she

undergoes treatment for cancer but, the authors stressed, this is still a long

way off. Because chemotherapy affects the egg cells of the ovary, women often

end up with ovarian failure and infertility as a result of cancer treatment. "

For interested parties, more can be found at this website:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_89909.html

FYI,

Lottie Duthu