Symptoms of CML
When you have CML, your body makes an abnormal type of white blood cell (leukemia cell). These cells don’t work right. They crowd out healthy white blood cells and other types of blood cells, including red blood cells and platelets, which help your body fight infections. They can also make it difficult for your bone marrow to produce normal red blood cells and white blood cells.
You may also have other symptoms of the disease, such as fatigue, bone pain, fevers, night sweats, or weight loss. These symptoms usually come on gradually. If you have the more advanced form of the disease called blast crisis, your symptoms can be more serious.
Symptoms depend on whether you’re in the chronic phase or the accelerated phase of the disease and on the amount of blasts in your blood or bone marrow. When you’re in the chronic phase, fewer than 10% of the cells in your blood and bone marrow are blasts. If you’re in the accelerated phase, 10 to 19 percent of the cells in your blood and bone wight are blasts.
If you’re in the accelerated phase of the disease, you might have symptoms like shortness of breath or swelling of your ankles or feet. These symptoms are caused by your bone marrow making a large number of immature white blood cells and other abnormal blood cells that don’t work right.
Other symptoms include high blood pressure, low levels of a type of white blood cell called neutrophils and problems with your bone marrow producing enough red blood cells or platelets. These problems cause your lungs to become weak and you may not have enough oxygen in your blood.
Treatment for CML
The most common way doctors treat people with CML is to slow down the rate at which their body makes leukemia cells. This is done by using drugs known as tyrosine kinase inhibitors. These medications work by blocking the effects of an abnormal protein, BCR::ABL1, in the leukemia cells.
Your doctor may use other treatments to control your CML, such as chemotherapy or biologic therapy. These treatments can help destroy some of the leukemia cells and restore your body’s natural production of blood cells.
You may need to have other tests to check the size and function of your spleen, kidneys, liver, and bone marrow. These tests can include a CAT or CT scan, ultrasound, and MRI. Your doctor might ask you to have a bone marrow biopsy, too. A hollow needle is inserted into your hipbone or breastbone to remove a sample of liquid bone marrow. This tissue is then examined under a microscope to see what kind of cancer the leukemia is causing.
A CBC (complete blood count) is the most common test used to diagnose CML. A CBC counts and measures the number of different kinds of cells in your blood. Your provider can also do a peripheral blood smear to see how your blood cells look under the microscope.
