Leukaemia

Contact help group: Irish Cancer Society
Tel: 1800.200.700
E:mail: www.cancer.ie

Cancer Plus - for parents of children with cancer.
c/o Irish Cancer Society,
43/45 Northumberland Rd.
Dublin 4
Tel: FreeFone 1 800 200 700
Email: reception@irishcancer.ie

JMML (also known as juvenile chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia) is a rare hematopoietic malignancy of childhood accounting for about 2% of all childhood leukaemias. A number of clinical and laboratory features distinguish JMML from adult-type chronic myeloid leukaemia, a disease noted only occasionally in children.

Leukaemia is cancer of the blood. It develops in the bone marrow, the soft, spongy center of the long bones that produces the three major blood cells: white blood cells to fight infection; red blood cells that carry oxygen; and platelets that help blood clot and stop bleeding. When a child has leukaemia, the bone marrow, for an unknown reason, begins to make white blood cells that do not mature correctly, but continue to reproduce themselves. Normal, healthy cells only reproduce when there is enough space for them to fit. The body can regulate the production of cells by sending signals when to stop.

With leukaemia, these cells do not respond to the signals to stop and reproduce, regardless of space available. These abnormal cells reproduce very quickly and do not function as healthy white blood cells to help fight infection. When the immature white blood cells, called blasts, begin to crowd out other healthy cells in the bone marrow, the child experiences the symptoms of leukaemia (i.e., infections, anemia, bleeding, abdominal distress, general feelings of fatigue, bone and joint pain, swollen lymph nodes).

Treatment: chemotherapy - for JMML, chemotherapy is not generally a successful treatment, however, it may be used to keep the leukaemia under control while the patient is prepared for a stem cell transplant. Chemotherapy is systemic treatment, meaning it is introduced to the bloodstream and travels throughout the body to kill cancer cells. Stem cell transplant - stem cell transplantation offers the best option for overcoming JMML.

This treatment involves stem cells, a specific type of cell from which all blood cells develop. Stem cells develop into red blood cells to carry oxygen, white blood cells to fight disease and infection, and platelets to aid in blood clotting. Stem cells are found primarily in the bone marrow, but some also circulate in the blood stream.