What is Leukaemia

Leukaemia is a disease of the blood-forming cells in our bodies. Under normal circumstances these cells, which are in the bone marrow, make red blood cells to carry oxygen around the body; white blood cells which defend the body against infection and blood platelets, whose function is to stop bleeding. In leukaemia these cells are no longer produced and the results are anaemia from lack of red cells, infection from lack of white cells and bleeding from lack of platelets.

To compound the problem, there is an excess of leukaemia cells which accumulate in the bone marrow and blood. There are several different forms of leukaemia but the same general process occurs in all of them. The first drugs which were effective for the treatment of leukaemia did not appear until the 1950's. These drugs that inhibit the growth of leukaemia cells, started research to find new drugs such as 6-mercaptopurine, busulphan and cyclophosphamide which are now in routine use.

In the 1960's bone marrow transplantation was pioneered, although initial transplant attempts were only between identical twins. The progressive improvement in treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) the most common form of leukaemia in children is particularly encouraging.  In the 1960's survival would probably have been only 4 percent of children with ALL. Thanks to research, improvements in diagnosis and treatment over the past four decades the cure rate could reach 90 percent in the near future. Survival for many years is now the rule rather than the exception.