The "continuous bleeding" after tooth extraction turned out to be leukemia! Doctor: If you encounter the "4 signs", you can control more than 70% of blood cancer cells by seeking medical treatment promptly.
Former General Secretary of China Jiang Zemin passed away in Shanghai on November 30 at the age of 96. It is understood that Jiang Zemin passed away due to leukemia (blood cancer) combined with multiple organ failure. Dr. Ke Wansheng, director of the Department of Internal Medicine and chief physician of the Department of Hematology and Oncology at Guangtian General Hospital, said in an interview that Jiang Zemin was over 90 years old, and his illness was rapid and rapid. Combined with multiple organ failure, it is speculated that he may be suffering from “acute myeloid leukemia”, the most malignant form of leukemia.
Is unexplained fever a sign of “acute leukemia”? Are anemia and enlarged belly also warning signs of blood cancer?
Dr. Ke Wansheng explained that leukemia is a malignant disease in which bone marrow hematopoietic cells abnormally proliferate, thereby affecting hematopoietic function. It can be roughly divided into four types: acute and chronic myelogenous leukemia; and acute and chronic lymphatic leukemia. Acute/chronic myeloid leukemia is more likely to occur in adults over 20 years old and middle-aged and elderly people aged 40-60 respectively; acute/chronic lymphoid leukemia is more likely to occur in children under 10 years old and middle-aged and elderly people over 50 years old.
Dr. Ke Wansheng pointed out that acute myeloid/lymphocytic leukemia is generally characterized by four common symptoms, namely paleness, unexplained fever, skin bruising or bleeding gums, and bone pain. Acute onset may occur within 1-3 months. .
As for chronic myelogenous leukemia, symptoms such as fatigue, splenomegaly (abdominal swelling), inability to swallow, weight loss, and even anemia are common. The course of the disease may last from six months to a year. It is often discovered and referred in other internal medicine outpatient clinics. Go to the hematology department. There are no obvious symptoms in the early stages of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Some patients may develop symptoms such as herpes zoster and swollen lymph nodes due to viral infection. When blood tests reveal an increase in lymphocytes, the disease may develop.
The “continuous bleeding” after tooth extraction is not periodontal disease! After his examination, he was shocked to discover that the white blood cells had increased to more than 20,000.
“Many people tend to mistake blood cancer for other diseases. For example, if they experience gum bleeding, they mistakenly think it is periodontal disease. After a tooth extraction by a dentist, the bleeding continues. After being referred to the hematology and oncology department for examination, it is discovered that it is leukemia!” explained Dr. Ke Wansheng. A patient once went to the gastroenterology department for abdominal enlargement and abdominal discomfort. The examination results did not show any gastrointestinal disease problems. On the contrary, after blood drawing, it was found that the white blood cell index was too high, and he was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia.
Dr. Ke Wansheng pointed out that routine blood tests are an important basis for diagnosing leukemia. If the number of leukemias increases abnormally to more than 20,000 or even hundreds of thousands, and the number of red blood cells and platelets drops sharply, then “bone marrow biopsy” must be further performed. Bone marrow is extracted from the sternum or pelvic cavity. If the test result is confirmed to be leukemia, the treatment process must be started as soon as possible.
Is leukemia related to “congenital genetic variation”? “1 treatment” helps eliminate 90% of blood cancer cells
Dr. Ke Wansheng emphasized that judging from the current progress of medical technology, leukemia can already achieve good therapeutic effects. In the past, the medical community has confirmed that the translocation of the 9th and 22nd chromosomes in the human body (also known as Philadelphia Chromosome) is the main disease physiological mechanism of “chronic myelogenous leukemia”; with current oral targeted drugs, it can It inhibits the erroneous signal sent by the translocation gene and can achieve a long-term clearance rate of more than 90% of blood cancer cells in 10 years.
“Targeted drugs can extend the survival time of patients to more than 10 years and help increase the probability of “pathological complete remission.” Targeted drug therapy for chronic myelogenous leukemia is one of the most significant improvements in remission of human cancers. . After the emergence of this drug, it also led to other cancer target drug treatments and continued to benefit cancer patients.”
Dr. Ke Wansheng said that in the early years, the treatment of leukemia was mostly based on chemotherapy. The 5-year survival rate of chemotherapy measures for “acute myeloid leukemia” is only about 20-30%. Therefore, after successfully relieving the disease through chemotherapy, the patient will be expected to undergo further treatment through “bone marrow transplantation”, which can increase the 5-year survival rate to about 50-60%.
However, Dr. Ke Wansheng also emphasized that although bone marrow transplantation can increase the survival rate, the hematopoietic stem cells in “autologous bone marrow transplantation” may contain cancer cells, so there is still a risk of recurrence; “allogeneic bone marrow transplantation” can prolong survival better. However, it is easy to be mutually exclusive with the donor’s hematopoietic stem cells, which can cause various side effects, such as low resistance, so it is not suitable for the elderly.
Two major target drugs have just been covered by health insurance: the “disease remission rate” can reach up to 70%
In recent years, the treatment of leukemia has gradually shifted to targeted therapy. Dr. Ke Wansheng pointed out that in 2020, the targeted drug “FLT-3 inhibitor” was just covered by health insurance; in 2021, the oral targeted drug “BCL-2 inhibitor” was also paid. If you are 18-75 years old and have major organ disorders such as heart, lungs, liver, etc., as well as those over 75 years old, you are eligible for health insurance benefits.
By treating acute myeloid leukemia with targeted drugs, the disease remission rate can be increased from less than 20-30% to 50-70%, and the survival time can be extended from 4.1 months to an average of more than 10-12 months. Without chemotherapy, Side effects, more suitable for the elderly and patients with acute myeloid leukemia who have comorbidities.
Finally, Dr. Ke Wansheng reminded the public that leukemia is not different from liver cancer, lung cancer and other cancers. The only difference is “whether it is sick or not.” Among them, acute myeloid leukemia often worsens rapidly. If not detected and treated early, patients may be life-threatening due to infection, other complications and organ failure within months or even weeks. Therefore, if the above symptoms occur, you should immediately go to the hematology and oncology department for medical treatment and conduct a blood test for confirmation.
“Currently, there are many targeted drugs that patients can choose from, which can provide more precise and personalized treatment based on congenital genes, age, or comorbidities such as organ failure. As long as you get treatment early, you can greatly increase the survival rate and even the chance of cure. !”
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