LEUKEMIA

Course overview

LEUKEMIA IS A HETEROGENEOUS GROUP OF HEMATOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES THAT ARISE FROM THE DYSFUNCTIONAL PROLIFERATION OF DEVELOPING LEUKOCYTES. IT IS CLASSIFIED AS EITHER ACUTE OR CHRONIC BASED ON THE RAPIDITY OF PROLIFERATION AND AS MYELOCYTIC OR LYMPHOCYTIC BASED ON THE CELL OF ORIGIN. TREATMENT DEPENDS ON THE TYPE OF LEUKEMIA BUT GENERALLY INVOLVES CHEMOTHERAPY. MULTIPLE GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FACTORS ARE IDENTIFIED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEUKEMIA. ACCORDING TO THE SURVEILLANCE, EPIDEMIOLOGY, AND END RESULTS (SEER) DATABASE, THERE ARE 61,090 ESTIMATED NEW CASES OF LEUKEMIA IN 2021, ACCOUNTING FOR 3.2% OF ALL NEW CANCER CASES, MAKING LEUKEMIA THE 10TH MOST COMMON CANCER IN THE UNITED STATES. THIS ACTIVITY DESCRIBES THE EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT OF LEUKEMIA AND REVIEWS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN IMPROVING CARE FOR PATIENTS WITH THIS CONDITION.