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Lymphoid leukaemia: a look at the genetics of proliferation

Treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in children is one of the great success stories of cancer medicine. Genetic analysis continues to have a major role in the fight against this and other lymphoid leukaemias.

Leukaemia is a cancer specifically of white blood cells (leucocytes). In common with the other formed elements in blood, white cells are derived from the multipotential haemopoietic stem cell in bone marrow, and leukaemia is characterised by the accumulation of malignant white cells in bone marrow and blood, at the expense of normal blood cell production.

There are four main leukaemia types, which define both the speed of disease progression (acute or chronic) and the type of white cell malignantly transformed (myeloid or lymphoid), and these are chronic myeloid, chronic lymphoid (both slowly progressive), acute myeloid and acute lymphoblastic (both rapidly progressive).

Of the four types, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the least common overall but the most common to affect children. In fact, ALL is the most common cancer of any type to occur in childhood, and accounts for 85% of all cases of childhood leukaemia, the peak incidence of ALL being between the ages of three and seven years.

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Upcoming Events

USCAP 113th Annual Meeting

Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
23-28 March, 2024

Pathology Horizons 2024

MacDonald Bath Spa Hotel, Bath
18-20 April, 2024

Diagnostics North East Conference 2024

The Catalyst, Newcastle upon Tyne
19 April, 2024

ECCMID 2024 - European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Fira Gran Via, 08038 Barcelona, Spain
27-30 April 2024

British Society for Microbial Technology Annual Microbiology Conference

UK Health Security Agency, Colindale, London
2 May 2024

EQA Reports: Interpreting Key Information & Troubleshooting Tips

ONLINE - Zoom
Thursday 16th May 2024

Access the latest issue of Pathology In Practice on your mobile device together with an archive of back issues.

Download the FREE Pathology In Practice app from your device's App store

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