What is leukemia?

What is leukemia?

• A. Cancer of white blood cells (leukocytes)
• B. Cancer of red blood cells
• C. Cancer of platelets
• D. Cancer of bone tissue

Answer: (A)

Leukemia is cancer that starts in the cells that become white blood cells. In the bone marrow, these cells multiply uncontrollably, crowding out normal blood cells. This disrupts the immune system and the blood’s normal roles, causing symptoms like frequent infections, fatigue from anemia, and easy bruising or bleeding from low platelets. Leukemia can be acute or chronic, affecting different white cell lines and progressing at different rates, and treatment typically involves chemotherapy, targeted therapies, or sometimes a bone marrow transplant. It’s not a cancer of red blood cells, platelets, or bone tissue—the abnormal growth characterizing leukemia specifically involves white blood cells.

Leukemia is cancer that starts in the cells that become white blood cells. In the bone marrow, these cells multiply uncontrollably, crowding out normal blood cells. This disrupts the immune system and the blood’s normal roles, causing symptoms like frequent infections, fatigue from anemia, and easy bruising or bleeding from low platelets. Leukemia can be acute or chronic, affecting different white cell lines and progressing at different rates, and treatment typically involves chemotherapy, targeted therapies, or sometimes a bone marrow transplant. It’s not a cancer of red blood cells, platelets, or bone tissue—the abnormal growth characterizing leukemia specifically involves white blood cells.