Med. praxi. 2016;13(4):192-195 | DOI: 10.36290/med.2016.041

Acute leukemia - what should general practitioners know about

MUDr.Zuzana Šustková¹, prof.MUDr.Zdeněk Ráčil, Ph.D.^1,2

¹ Interní hematologická a onkologická klinika, Fakultní nemocnice Brno

² Interní hematologická a onkologická klinika, Lékařská fakulta, Masarykova univerzita, Brno

Acute leukemia represents a clonal malignant disease of the hematopoiesis, which is characterized by uncontrolled proliferation and

by accumulation of leukemic blasts in the bone marrow and also by inhibition of the hematopoiesis with ensuing development of

pancytopenia, which is the cause of the clinical manifestations. Based on the classification of the leukemic blasts into either myeloid

or lymphoblastic lineage, we can determine two basic types of acute leukemia – acute myeloid leukemia or acute lymphoblastic

leukemia. The first symptoms appear suddenly and are unspecific. It is the early diagnosis in the primary care and the following

treatment at the specialized center what improves the survival rate. The therapeutic approach to acute leukemia can be curative,

palliative or symptomatic. The prognosis differs depending on the age and cytogenetic and molecular genetic features of the disease.

Keywords: acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, diagnosis, treatment

Published: October 1, 2016  Show citation