Chronic leukemia involves more-mature blood cells. These blood cells replicate or accumulate more slowly and can function normally for a period of time. Some forms of chronic leukemia initially produce no early symptoms and can go unnoticed or undiagnosed for years.
The white cells in the blood grow very quickly, over a matter of days to weeks. Sometimes a patient with acute leukemia has no symptoms or has normal blood work even a few weeks or months before the diagnosis. The change can be quite dramatic.
Some signs of leukemia, like night sweats, fever, fatigue and achiness, resemble flu-like symptoms. Unlike symptoms of the flu, which generally subside as patients get better, leukemia symptoms generally last longer than two weeks, and may include sudden weight loss, bone and joint pain and easy bleeding or bruising.
Almost 65 out of 100 (almost 65 percent) will survive their leukemia for five years or more after diagnosis. For those who are 40 or older: Around 20 out of 100 (around 20 percent) will survive their leukemia for five years or more after diagnosis.
Chronic leukemia usually gets worse slowly, over months to years, while acute leukemia develops quickly and progresses over days to weeks. The two main types of leukemia can be further organized into groups that are based on the type of white blood cell that is affected — lymphoid or myeloid.
Stage I: The patient has lymphocytosis and enlarged lymph nodes. The patient does not have an enlarged liver or spleen, anemia, or low levels of platelets. Stage II: The patient has lymphocytosis and an enlarged spleen and/or liver and may or may not have swollen lymph nodes.
If caught early, leukemia can be cured by undergoing several cancer treatments.
People in stages 0 to II may live for 5 to 20 years without treatment. CLL has a very high incidence rate in people older than 60 years. CLL affects men more than women. If the disease has affected the B cells, the person's life expectancy can range from 10 to 20 years.
Generally for all people with ALL:
more than 65 out of 100 people (more than 65%) will survive their leukaemia for 5 years or more after being diagnosed.
Some people live for many years. But for some, the outlook is less good. Please bear in mind that CLL treatment is improving as doctors use new targeted drugs.
Leukemia can produce a variety of symptoms, although most are not often apparent in the earliest stages of the malignancy. The most common symptoms of leukemia—fatigue, pale skin, weight loss and night sweats—are often attributed to other less serious conditions, such as the flu.
Leukemia symptoms commonly include fatigue, breathlessness, infections, and bruising or bleeding more easily. Leukemia* symptoms vary depending on the type of leukemia. Not everyone gets the same symptoms, and you won't necessarily have all of the symptoms. Most people with these symptoms won't have leukemia.
Chronic leukemia involves more-mature blood cells. These blood cells replicate or accumulate more slowly and can function normally for a period of time. Some forms of chronic leukemia initially produce no early symptoms and can go unnoticed or undiagnosed for years.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is typically a slow-growing cancer that may not require treatment. While some people may refer to this as a "good" type of cancer, it doesn't really make receiving a cancer diagnosis any easier.
In the United States, overall, 5-year survival among people diagnosed with leukemia is 65%. However, these statistics vary greatly according to the specific subtype of disease: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) 5-year survival rate is 88%. Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) 5-year survival rate is 71.3%.
Mel Mann was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia and given three years to live — more than 27 years ago. He enrolled in one of the first clinical trials for a drug called Gleevec (imatinib).
Acute leukemia symptoms can often appear suddenly
With acute leukemia, symptoms tend to develop very quickly. You may suddenly spike a fever that won't go away, develop an infection for no apparent reason, or start bleeding spontaneously from your nose or gums and not be able to stop it.
For those younger than 40:
more than 50 out of 100 (more than 50%) will survive their leukaemia for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
The prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients aged ≥70 years is particularly poor. In the United States, five-year overall survival is 7.4% and 3.3% in patients aged 70–74 and 75–79, respectively [1].
Treatment for patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) differs from treatment for patients with other AML subtypes. Because of advances in diagnosis and treatment of this disease, APL is now considered the most curable form of adult leukemia.
Adults between the age of 65 and 74 have the highest risk of developing leukemia. Chronic leukemia, such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), is the most common type of leukemia seen in people over the age of 50, with the median age of diagnosis being around 71.
Some people with leukemia or myelodysplastic syndromes have bone or joint pain. This bone pain is most often felt in the long bones of the arms and legs, in the ribs and in the breastbone. Joint pain and swelling of the large joints, like the hips and shoulders, sometimes starts several weeks after bone pain begins.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has long been considered an incurable disease.