Leukemia is a type of blood cancer in which the white blood cells proliferate abnormally in the bone marrow. There are two main types of leukemia depending on the variant of white blood cells involved. We can have leukemia featuring either a myeloid series of cells or lymphoid cells. Moreover, there are many different subtypes of leukemia, depending on many other factors. For example, we have very aggressive leukemia that develops quickly and may become life-threatening in a few weeks. They are called acute leukemia. We can also have slow-progressing and insidious types of leukemia that may require treatment, and patients can last for a longer time. This type is known as chronic leukemia.
The survival rate of leukemia and life expectancy of patients depend on numerous factors, which include:
- The type of leukemia the patient has
- The patient’s age
- How soon the treatment started
- Warning signs and symptoms
In acute leukemia, the life expectancy is often shorter unless patients achieve a remission of the disease. In chronic leukemia, the condition is present from a more extended period and life expectancy is measured in years. Thus, the course of leukemia can vary from days to months, and even years depending on the type.
Is leukemia curable?
Although there is no cure for leukemia, there are various ways to slow down the proliferation of white blood cells and prevent leukemia from spreading to other organs. The success of the treatment depends on the efficacy of therapies and how early they started in the course of the disease.
Depending on each case, patients may undergo chemotherapy, radiotherapy, bone marrow transplantation, and supportive therapy which includes antibiotics treatment, correction of anemia, and thrombocytopenia. A typical patient often needs a combination of treatments, and the success of therapy depends on a complex combination of risk factors.
Bone marrow transplantation is a good option and the only one that guarantees full remission of the disease. However, it is a very dangerous treatment, sometimes more dangerous than the disease itself. It may come with serious complications such as graft versus host disease, pneumonia, cataract, infertility, and secondary malignant diseases.
The survival rate of leukemia
The prognosis of leukemia depends on the age of the patient, gender, leukocyte count, timely diagnosis, and involvement of other organs. Other relevant factors that influence survival rate include bone damage, usage of tobacco, chromosome mutations, and family history of leukemia.
Acute leukemia needs immediate treatment once the diagnosis is made. Without treatment, the survival rate for acute leukemia patients is 5 weeks, and it can be extended a few extra weeks with medications. However, patients with acute leukemia who get specific therapy can survive and have a lower remission rate. Specific therapy includes treatment of any active infection, bleeding or anemia, supportive treatment, among others.
Leukemia survival rate by age
The survival rate is higher for younger patients, and it is one of the most common types of cancers for young patients under the age of 20. However, the diseases is usually more aggressive when it appears in the extremes of life (newborns, infants, and older adults).
Patients under 20 years old have a higher survival rate, and only 2.2% of them die 5 years after diagnosis. As age increases, the risk increases, too. But the survival rate curve changes dramatically after 55 years old when it reaches 12% of deaths.
Then, patients up to 74 years old are 23% likely to die, and when they reach their eighties, the risk increases to 30%. After 84 years old, patients have a lower chance of dying due to leukemia because other causes of death are more common at this age.
Leukemia survival rate by type
Patients with chronic leukemia might take a longer time to start treatment. Depending on the patient’s age, doctors may choose to adopt a “wait and see” approach. In some cases, older adults might not actually die because of leukemia but due to other causes. Conversely, acute leukemia requires a shorter but immediate treatment. There is a higher chance of relapse in acute leukemia and they have a lower survival rate.
Leukemia survival rate by warning signs
One of the most important ways to measure survival rate in leukemia is by looking at warning signs and symptoms. For each type of leukemia, there is a specific formula to calculate the relative risk of the patient. They usually take in consideration warning signs such as bleeding episodes, low levels of platelets, blood levels of white blood cells, presence of blasts in the blood, and many other markers.
How long can you live with leukemia?
Leukemia is a painful condition for patients and families and leaves a physical and emotional scar. Patients always remember the time they got diagnosed. One of the most common questions is how much time do I have left. But that’s not something we can say exactly because it depends on too many things.
As you have seen in this article, the survival rate of the patient depends on the age and various prognostic factors. The supportive treatment during cancer treatment improves the outcome of the patient. Specific therapy, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and bone marrow transplantation in children may help in increasing the survival years.
However, we should never forget the importance of emotional support as another part of the treatment. Support groups, including volunteers working for raising funds, donors, and charities for leukemia patients help a lot in supporting them and making them happier.
Thus, patients with leukemia are much more than a number of remaining weeks, months, or years. Survival rate calculation is not a death sentence, and many patients are given poor chances of survival, but they experience full or partial recovery of their symptoms and regain their quality of life.
References
Meadows, A. T., Kramer, S., Hopson, R., Lustbader, E., Jarrett, P., & Evans, A. E. (1983). Survival in childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia: effect of protocol and place of treatment. Cancer investigation, 1(1), 49-55.
Molica, S. (1991). Progression and survival studies in early chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Blood, 78(4), 895-899.