[Medical Q&A] What is the journey of leukemia?

Author: Yang Lihua, deputy chief physician, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University

Reviewer: Luo Xuequn, Chief Physician, First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University

In our body, there is a busy world - the kingdom of cells. Here, cells are constantly proliferating and renewing, like a factory that never stops. All this depends on a key process - gene replication. When genes are replicated normally, we can get cells with normal functions. This cycle repeats over and over again. The end of the service life of cells is death, but there will be a next generation of cells to take over, supplemented by stem cells in the body to maintain the stability of cells. This is the normal way for the body to renew itself.

However, sometimes, some small episodes will happen. Each of us may have genetic mutations due to internal genetic factors (internal factors) or external environmental influences (external factors). For example, some people are born with susceptible genes, which is an internal cause; while some people may be more likely to be exposed to toxic and radioactive substances due to their living or working environment, which is an external cause. However, there is no need to worry too much. Gene mutations do not always lead to cancer, and exposure to toxic or radioactive substances does not always lead to cancer.

In fact, our body has a self-repair mechanism. When a gene mutation occurs, the body will try to repair these abnormalities. If it cannot be repaired, the abnormal cells that cannot be repaired will undergo apoptosis.

However, sometimes things don't go so smoothly. If the rate at which abnormal cells caused by gene mutations die can't keep up with their rate of proliferation, problems arise. These abnormal cells may form tumors, just like leukemia. Leukemia cells cunningly evade the body's layers of defenses and compete with the human body for nutrients, causing patients to lose weight and even develop cachexia. The formation of leukemia reveals that tumor cells have their own complex and rigorous survival mechanism.