What are the different types of acute lymphocytic leukemia?
We think of ALL in two big general types.
ALL is a disease where you don't make a normal white blood cell, the lymphocyte, and instead make a cancer cell. That's how we think of the cancer: what did it want to grow up to be instead of becoming a cancer cell?
There are B cells in our body. These are cells that primarily make things like antibodies to fight viruses and some bacteria. If it wanted to grow up to be a B cell, then we call it a B cell ALL.
If it wanted to grow up to be a T cell, which are our killer cells and also big helpers in the immune system, then we call it a T cell ALL.
There is a slight variation in how we treat these diseases, but in general, all of these are treated fairly similarly.
One other big category that people will hear about is within the B cell category, and that is the Philadelphia chromosome. It's a specific genetic change, and we have drugs specifically to target that genetic change. So if someone has B cell ALL, we're always looking to see if there's a Philadelphia chromosome as well.
HealthTree • July 23, 2024