What are the symptoms of end-stage acute myelogous leukemia?
My son is 26. He's had two bone-marrow transplants. Neither brought remission. He was recently hospitalized for PCPneumonia. I need help understanding what to expect in terms of his symptoms. Thank you so much.
- Skepsikyma
When someone has AML, the bone-marrow stem cells which are supposed to 'grow up' into blood cells never do so, they stay in the immature phase and continue to divide. Under normal conditions the marrow would produce various blood cells, and this buildup of useless 'baby cells' prevents it from performing this function. For example, instead of producing white blood cells, which are the 'soldiers' of the immune system, the marrow produces leukemic cells which cannot fight invading pathogens. This makes people with AML particularly susceptible to infection. The lack of functioning platelets makes it difficult for blood to clot, leading to a condition similar to hemophilia. This means that the afflicted person will bruise very easily, and that minor wounds will take an abnormally long time to heal. Finally, the low red blood cell count will lead to anemia-like symptoms such as shortness of breath, paleness, and fatigue. At this stage, your only courses of action are clinical trials of various cytotoxic drugs, palliative care (treating the symptoms), or an ATRA/Arsenic trioxide cocktail. PCP pneumonia is an opportunistic fungal pathogen; it lives in the lungs of most healthy people, but our immune systems fight it off. The fact that it managed to infect your son indicates that he is immunocompromised.
The best of luck to you; leukemia is a very tough disease.
Leukemia — Comprehensive overview covers symptoms, causes, risk factors, treatment of this blood-related cancer.
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