T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
It is an aggressive and quick-progressing type of leukemia. It attacks at the lymphoid cell producing stem cells. A lymphoid stem cell becomes a lymphoblast cell and then it becomes a white blood cell of one kind. There are three types of WBCs in the body; B-lymphocytes that make antibodies, T-lymphocytes that help B-lymphocytes, and natural killer cells to attack viruses and cancerous cells. The bone-marrow releases immature white blood cells.
Treatment
One of the treatments of ALL in children is stem-cell transplantation. A child stays in a hospital for 6 to 8 weeks. Some may go home early, but others may take a longer time to recover. During this time, a child experiences isolation and is kept in a separate room with a bathroom attach to it. Parents may also allow staying with their children during this period. These units are specialized centers. The skilled staff looks after the child. Many social workers and specialists help children and parents. During this method, the unhealthy blood-forming cells are replaced by healthy ones. The most common type is an allogeneic transplant, where healthy cells are donated by someone else to replace them with unhealthy cells of the patient. These cells are injected through an intravenous catheter, and they travel to bones to make healthy blood cells. It is a very complicated process and needs extra care and regular inspection.
News update
A cancer patient named Oscar Saxelby-Lee was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in December 2018. He was prescribed bone-marrow or stem-cell transplantation. In March 2019 about 5000 people gathered in the event to check whether they were eligible as the donor of stem-cells. Laura Senter, the teaching assistant of Oscar remarked that it was seriously a shock when it was diagnosed as cancer. They immediately rushed for the donor. The event was arranged by the school in Worcester, England. The business manager said that they had decided to go beyond anything to find out the donor. His teachers remarked that in her teaching career she had not experienced such a site. She said that all the concerned people were determined to fight against his disease. It is shocking to know that the event was organized by about 200 volunteers and more than 1800 registered their names as potential donors on the first day of the event.
Conclusion
The spirit and generosity of the people were incredible. It is very difficult to find exact match because there are almost 17000 HLA characteristics that are to be checked and matched. At present Oscar is in the care of the doctors at Birmingham Children Hospital. Oscar’s mother is determined for his fun-loving child’s long life. The children like Oscar around the world need someone else to save them. The society is trying hard for such children, which is a good sign.