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| ==Overview== | | ==Overview== |
| '''Chronic lymphocytic leukemia''' (also known as "chronic lymphoid leukemia" or "CLL"), is a type of [[leukemia]], or cancer of the white blood cells ([[lymphocytes]]). CLL affects a particular lymphocyte, the [[B cell]], which originates in the bone marrow, develops in the lymph nodes, and normally fights infection. In CLL, the DNA of a B cell is damaged, so that it can't fight infection, but it grows out of control and crowds out the healthy blood cells that can fight infection. | | '''Chronic lymphocytic leukemia''' (also known as "chronic lymphoid leukemia" or "CLL"), is a type of [[leukemia]], or cancer of the white blood cells ([[lymphocytes]]). |
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| CLL is an abnormal neoplastic proliferation of B cells. The cells accumulate mainly in the bone marrow and blood. CLL is closely related to a disease called [[small lymphocytic lymphoma]] (SLL), a type of [[non-Hodgkin's lymphoma]] which presents primarily in the [[lymph nodes]]. The [[World Health Organization]] considers CLL and SLL to be "one disease at different stages, not two separate entities".<ref name="pmid10577857">{{cite journal |author=Harris NL, Jaffe ES, Diebold J, ''et al'' |title=World Health Organization classification of neoplastic diseases of the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues: report of the Clinical Advisory Committee meeting-Airlie House, Virginia, November 1997 |journal=J. Clin. Oncol. |volume=17 |issue=12 |pages=3835-49 |year=1999 |pmid=10577857 |doi=}}</ref>
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| In the past, cases with similar microscopic appearance in the blood but with a T cell phenotype were referred to as T-cell CLL. However, it is now recognized that these so-called T-cell CLLs are in fact a separate disease group and are currently classified as [[T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia]]s.
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| [[Acute lymphocytic leukemia]] (ALL) is a disease of children, but CLL is a disease of adults. Most (>75%) people newly diagnosed with CLL are over age 50, and two-thirds are men. In the United States during 2007, it is estimated there will be 15,340 new cases diagnosed and 4,500 deaths<ref name="NCI-CLL-page1">{{cite web |url=http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/CLL/HealthProfessional/page1 |title=Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (PDQ®) Treatment: General Information |author=National Cancer Institute |accessdate=2007-09-04 |format= |work=}}</ref>, but because of prolonged survival, many more people are living with CLL.
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| Most people are diagnosed without symptoms as the result of a routine blood test that returns a high white blood cell count, but as it advances CLL results in [[swollen lymph nodes]], [[splenomegaly|spleen]], and [[hepatomegaly|liver]], and eventually [[anemia]] and infections. Early CLL is not treated, and late CLL is treated with chemotherapy and monoclonal antibodies. Survival varies from 5 years to more than 25 years. It is now possible to diagnose patients with short and long survival more precisely by examining the DNA mutations, and patients with slowly-progressing disease can be reassured and may not need any treatment in their lifetimes.<ref name="pmid15728813">{{cite journal |author=Chiorazzi N, Rai KR, Ferrarini M |title=Chronic lymphocytic leukemia |journal=N. Engl. J. Med. |volume=352 |issue=8 |pages=804-15 |year=2005 |pmid=15728813 |doi=10.1056/NEJMra041720}}</ref>
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| ==Diagnosis== | | ==Diagnosis== |