Acute promyelocytic leukemia is a rare form of one of the most aggressive types of leukemia. This disease causes abnormal production of the immature cells that form blood, known as promyelocytes. These abnormal cells can be commonly found in the blood and bone marrow. When the abnormal growth of promyelocytes outnumber the healthy cells, there is a shortage of healthy white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets.
The common symptoms of this type of leukemia are the clotting of the blood and an increased risk of bleeding. The condition can also cause loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, and pain in some parts of the body which are symptoms common to other types of leukemia.
The condition affects people of any age, but middle-aged adults are at higher risk of the disease. Acute promyelocytic leukemia occurs due to a mutation which takes place over a length of time. It also involves translocation between chromosomes 15 and 17.
1. Symptoms of acute promyelocytic leukemia
In this type of leukemia, patients usually experience a certain set of symptoms. However, the symptoms can still depend on person to person. Some of the symptoms that are seen in between 30 to 77% of patients include:
A little less common – about 5 to 29% of acute promyelocytic leukemia cases -experience the following symptoms:
2. What causes acute promyelocytic leukemia?
The main cause of this condition is usually a rearrangement or a translocation of the chromosomes. The mutation of the cells can take place at any point in a person’s life. When there is a translocation, a fusion between two genes takes place. The genes that are involved in this condition are the PML gene on chromosome 15 and the RARA gene on chromosome 17. As a result of this mutation, a protein called PML-RaRa is formed. This is not a protein with normal functionality. Therefore, due to its presence, the growth of blood cells is stopped at the promyelocyte stage. Consequently, the promyelocyte cells start accumulating in the bone marrow, disrupting the production of white blood cells and leading to acute myeloid leukemia.
There are also chances of mutation in RARA and some other genes. But this has not been seen in many cases of acute myeloid leukemia.
3. Can the condition be inherited?
The condition cannot be genetic since the mutation of the genes takes place only during a person’s lifetime. Such mutations are called somatic mutations. Although these mutations can cause cancer, they cannot be passed on from a parent to their child.
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