What is the life expectancy of a person with CLL?
The prognosis of patients with CLL varies widely at diagnosis. Some patients die rapidly, within 2-3 years of diagnosis, because of complications from CLL. Most patients live 5-10 years, with an initial course that is relatively benign but followed by a terminal, progressive, and resistant phase lasting 1-2 years.
What is atypical chronic lymphocytic leukemia?
Atypical chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a CLL variant with cytogenetic and phenotypic differences that has no formal phenotypic definition and is used frequently in an equivocal way.
Is CLL always fatal?
Some people with CLL can live for years without treatment, but over time, most will need to be treated. Most people with CLL are treated on and off for years. Treatment may stop for a while, but it never really ends. Life after cancer means returning to some familiar things and also making some new choices.
Can I drink alcohol with CLL?
Excessive alcohol use can damage your liver and other vital organs, including your bone marrow, and limit your future treatment options for CLL. Even moderate alcohol intake can have a suppressive effect on bone marrow function.
What are the symptoms of end stage CLL?
Symptomatic Advanced CLL
- Anemia (hemoglobin level less than 11.0 g/dL)
- Thrombocytopenia (platelet count less than 100,000/mm3)
- Massive or progressive enlargement of lymph nodes.
- A lymphocyte doubling time of less than six months.
- Fever, weight loss, night sweats or profound fatigue.
What can cause atypical lymphocytes?
Atypical lymphocytes are large lymphocytes with varied morphology in the peripheral blood of patients with several viral infections, such as Epstein-Barr virus infection, cytomegalovirus infection, rubella, Hantavirus infection, viral hepatitis and HIV infection [2].
Can CLL turn into AML?
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is another rare complication in patients who have been treated for CLL. Drugs such as chlorambucil and cyclophosphamide can damage the DNA of blood-forming cells. These damaged cells may go on to become cancer, leading to AML, which is very aggressive and often hard to treat.