How Leukemia Is Staged?
After diagnosis, leukemia is staged, which determines how much cancerous cells have progressed and spread. This information is important to determine proper treatment options and long-term outlook. In general, most forms of leukemia are staged based on the accumulation of cancerous cells in certain organs and blood cell counts. Factors to stage specific forms of leukemia are as follow:
– Acute myelogenous leukemia: healthy blood cell counts, number and size of cancerous cells, changes in the cells’ chromosomes, and other genetic mutations.
– Acute lymphocytic leukemia: cell maturity and form of lymphocyte.
– Chronic myelogenous leukemia: the number of cancerous cells.
– Chronic lymphocytic leukemia: the presence of anemia, the degree of enlargement in the liver or lymph node, and lymphocyte count in the blood. [8]
