Chronic myelogenous leukemia causes
|
Chronic myelogenous leukemia Microchapters |
|
Differentiating Chronic myelogenous leukemia from other Diseases |
|---|
|
Diagnosis |
|
Treatment |
|
Case Studies |
|
Chronic myelogenous leukemia causes On the Web |
|
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Chronic myelogenous leukemia causes |
|
Directions to Hospitals Treating Chronic myelogenous leukemia |
|
Risk calculators and risk factors for Chronic myelogenous leukemia causes |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Mohamad Alkateb, MBBCh [2]
Overview
[1] chronic myelogenous leukemia is caused by:
- First, an abnormal chromosome develops: In people with chronic myelogenous leukemia, the Philadelphia chromosome, named for the city where it was discovered, is present in the blood cells of 90 percent of people.
- Second, the abnormal chromosome creates a new gene: The Philadelphia chromosome creates a new gene called BCR-ABL. it contains instructions that tell the abnormal blood cell to produce too much of a protein called tyrosine kinase that promotes cancer by allowing certain blood cells to grow out of control.
- Third, the new gene allows too many diseased blood cells: When the bone marrow functions normally, it produces immature cells (blood stem cells) in a controlled way. These cells then specialize into the various types of blood cells that circulate in the body. In chronic myelogenous leukemia, this process doesn't work correctly and the tyrosine kinase caused by the BCR-ABL gene causes too many white blood cells. These diseased white blood cells build up in huge numbers, crowding out healthy blood cells and damaging the bone marrow.
Causes
- An abnormal chromosome develops
- The abnormal chromosome creates a new gene
- The new gene allows too many diseased blood cells