What is CML (Chronic Myeloid Leukemia)?
CML (chronic myeloid leukemia or chronic myelogenous leukemia) is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow (soft tissue within bones). Blood cells are made in the bone marrow.
Within the bone marrow, stem cells (an early cell that matures into various types of blood cells) divide and mature into 3 types of blood cells:
- Red blood cells (RBCs), which carry oxygen to other cells in the body
- White blood cells (WBCs), which fight infection
- Platelets, which help blood to clot
To understand more about CML, it may be useful to see how blood cells normally develop.
*There are several kinds of white blood cells, but neutrophils and basophils are among those commonly monitored in CML.
CML is a slow-growing blood cancer that develops when DNA (genetic material) of a stem cell is changed. This change causes the bone marrow to make too many WBCs. The crowded cells cannot do their jobs very well. Over time, WBCs crowd out healthy RBCs and platelets. This causes the signs of CML.
In the very early phase of CML, many people show little or no symptoms of illness. This is because the WBCs are working normally, even if there are too many of them. A routine blood test called a complete blood count (CBC) may be able to detect the first sign that there are too many WBCs.
Possible signs of CML
Many of the signs of CML happen slowly over time. The following and other signs may be caused by CML:
- Not feeling well
- Feeling very tired
- Losing weight without dieting
- Fever
- Sweating at night
- Pain or an uncomfortable feeling on the left side of the abdomen because of an enlarged spleen
Who gets CML?
About 4,500 people, mostly adults, are diagnosed with CML each year in the United States. The median age for people receiving a CML diagnosis is 67 years. Some of them will have signs that tell them something is wrong. Others may not have any signs or symptoms, especially in the beginning.
