Chronic lymphatic leukemia

Chronic lymphatic leukemia (CLL) is the most common form of blood cancer in adults. About 120,000 people in Europe and the USA are affected – most of them over the age of 50.


It is still not known what causes the disease. Among the possibilities discussed are certain kinds of radiation, chemicals, viruses, and genetic factors. One characteristic of CLL is the accumulation of functionally immature white blood corpuscles (lymphocytes) in the bone marrow, the blood, lymphatic tissue and other organs. Lymphocytes occur in the blood in two different forms: as B-cells and T-cells. In 95 percent of all cases of CLL, it is the B-lymphocytes that are affected.

The mutated B-cells live longer than normal, healthy blood cells. The accumulation of functionally immature cells in the marrow impedes the formation of healthy cells and can cause death. Today, all patients must live with the knowledge that CLL is currently incurable. However, in the meantime there are innovative forms of treatment which make it possible to markedly prolong life and improve the patients' quality of life.


Symptom-free for a long time:

A distinction is generally made between the acute and chronic forms of leukemia. Unlike the acute forms, the chronic forms, of which CLL is one, often cause no complaints at all for a long time. Occasionally, CLL is detected by pure coincidence during a routine blood test. Sometimes, however, it can also be indicated by diffuse symptoms such as tiredness, fever, sudden weight loss, night-time sweating, unusually frequent colds or infections, swollen glands in the nape of the neck, the inside of the elbow or groin, or a swollen spleen.It is therefore often not diagnosed – or treated – until quite late in the course of the disease.

Still no cure, but a longer life:

Just a few decades ago there was practically no treatment at all for chronic lymphatic leukemia (CLL). In the meantime, however, several drugs have become available. Although they do not lead to a complete cure, they do at least improve the patients' quality of life. As a rule, CLL is first combated with chemotherapy. So-called alkylating substances play an important role here. Sometimes a combination of several such substances is used. If the patient responds to the therapy, the blood-cell count returns to normal – and the quality of life improves. As so often in tumor therapy, however, the insidious thing is that individual malignant cells can survive this initial therapy. After multiplying further, they can even become resistant to the chemotherapeutic agent(s). Then another therapy becomes necessary, the so-called second-line therapy. A substance has been available since 1991 that selectively changes the genetic constitution of the malignant cells. This blocks enzymes that are necessary for cell division. The result is that the malignant cells cannot multiply. An important success in the fight against CLL.


New hope: antibodies:

In the meantime, antibodies have also proved their worth alongside classic chemotherapeutic agents in the fight against CLL. These are structured in such a way that they perfectly fit onto a protein on the surface of lymphocytes. In this way, the antibody marks these cells in a way that is visible to the body's own immune system. The command that goes with it is: "Destroy the cell." After treatment, the remaining stem cells can subsequently supply healthy lymphocytes, so that the immune system is regenerated. In studies, the antibody has also proved effective as a first-line therapy.


Release link :

http://www.bayerscheringpharma.de/scripts/pages/en/health/oncology/chronic_lymphatic_leukemia/index.php