Leukemia

Leukemia is a broad term for cancers of the blood cells. The type of leukemia depends on the type of blood cell that becomes cancer and whether it grows quickly or slowly. Leukemia occurs most often in adults older than 55, but it is also the most common cancer in children younger than 15.

General Information About Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

KEY POINTS

Adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell).
Leukemia may affect red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
Previous chemotherapy and exposure to radiation may increase the risk of developing ALL.
Signs and symptoms of adult ALL include fever, feeling tired, and easy bruising or bleeding.

Read the full article on the National Cancer Institute website. https://www.cancer.gov/types/leukemia/patient/adult-all-treatment-pdq

General Information About Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia

KEY POINTS

Adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes abnormal myeloblasts (a type of white blood cell), red blood cells, or platelets.
Leukemia may affect red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
There are different subtypes of AML.
Smoking, previous chemotherapy treatment, and exposure to radiation may affect the risk of adult AML.
Signs and symptoms of adult AML include fever, feeling tired, and easy bruising or bleeding.

Read the full article on the National Cancer Institute website. https://www.cancer.gov/types/leukemia/patient/adult-aml-treatment-pdq

General Information About Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

KEY POINTS

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell).
Leukemia may affect red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
Signs and symptoms of chronic lymphocytic leukemia include swollen lymph nodes and tiredness.

Read the full article on the National Cancer Institute website https://www.cancer.gov/types/leukemia/patient/cll-treatment-pdq

Melbourne drug a blood cancer game changer

Source: Peter Mac News

A breakthrough drug with its origins in Melbourne is driving a major shift in the treatment of a range of blood cancers, with two new clinical trials of chemotherapy-free combinations demonstrating dramatic benefits for patients with hard-to-treat diseases…

Results of two new venetoclax trials – the MURANO Study involving patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) and AIM Study in Mantle-Cell Lymphoma (MCL) – were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Both trials involved patients whose blood cancer had relapsed or was resistant to conventional treatment, used venetoclax in combination with another targeted drug, and these treatment combinations resulted in high rates of patients with no detectable cancer.

“That venetoclax is able to produce such dramatic results in this hard-to-treat patient group is remarkable, and has led to much excitement among blood cancer clinicians globally and the research community particularly in Melbourne where this drug was pioneered,” says Professor John Seymour, Director of Haematology at Peter Mac and RMH.

“The data shows venetoclax should replace chemotherapy altogether in patients with advanced forms of CLL…”

General Information About Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

KEY POINTS

Chronic myelogenous leukemia is a disease in which the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells.
Leukemia may affect red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
Signs and symptoms of chronic myelogenous leukemia include weight loss and tiredness.
Most people with CML have a gene mutation (change) called the Philadelphia chromosome.

Read the full article on the National Cancer Institute website. https://www.cancer.gov/types/leukemia/patient/cml-treatment-pdq

General Information About Hairy Cell Leukemia

KEY POINTS

Hairy cell leukemia is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell).
Leukemia may affect red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
Gender and age may affect the risk of hairy cell leukemia.
Signs and symptoms of hairy cell leukemia include infections, tiredness, and pain below the ribs.

Read the full article on the National Cancer Institute website. https://www.cancer.gov/types/leukemia/patient/hairy-cell-treatment-pdq

General Information About chronic myelomonocytic leukemia

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia is a disease in which too many myelocytes and monocytes (immature white blood cells) are made in the bone marrow.

In chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), the body tells too many blood stem cells to become two types of white blood cells called myelocytes and monocytes. Some of these blood stem cells never become mature white blood cells. These immature white blood cells are called blasts. Over time, the myelocytes, monocytes, and blasts crowd out the red blood cells and platelets in the bone marrow. When this happens, infection, anemia, or easy bleeding may occur.

Older age and being male increase the risk of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.

Anything that increases your chance of getting a disease is called a risk factor. Possible risk factors for CMML include the following:

Older age.
Being male.
Being exposed to certain substances at work or in the environment.
Being exposed to radiation.
Past treatment with certain anticancer drugs.

Signs and symptoms of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia include fever, weight loss, and feeling very tired.

These and other signs and symptoms may be caused by CMML or by other conditions. Check with your doctor if you have any of the following:

Fever for no known reason.
Infection.
Feeling very tired.
Weight loss for no known reason.
Easy bruising or bleeding.
Pain or a feeling of fullness below the ribs.

Leukemia or Fungal Infection?

Leukaemia and fungi
(source: canceractive.com)

There are many American scientific experts who believe that the disease of Leukaemia and an overgrowth of fungi are inexorably linked. Some oncologists will tell you that yeasts and fungi are an effect of the drugs used to treat the leukaemia and there are many learned scientific research papers to show that after treatment some leukaemia patients have extremely bad fungal infections life threatening ones. However there is a growing band of experts who believe that these yeasts and fungi are the CAUSE, rather than the effect of leukaemia.

Even if yeasts/fungi are not the actual cause of your cancer, given that the effect of leukaemia treatment can promote severe fungal/yeast infections surely it makes good sense for all leukaemia patients to think about using an anti-yeast, anti-fungal diet, whether they believe such yeasts to be cause or effect.

More about Fungal Infection or Cancer?

CMML – info on natural treatments

Note
While some studies refer to leukaemia, but not CMML specifically, they are relevant because they target specific issues common to many cancers.

Essiac Tea
This study says the formula is now manufactured as Essiac® by Essiac Products in New Brunswick
Here is their website Essiac Products and Facebook page.

Flor-Essence
The above study says another Canadian product — Flor-Essence® — believed to be the 8-herb recipe developed by Caisse and Brusch, is manufactured in British Columbia and is widely available in health food stores. This Study identified the manufacturer as Florahealth.com

Papaya Leaf Extract

This study says:
NHPs [natural Health Products] may well provide a potential nontoxic therapeutic alternative to conventional systemic therapy in the treatment of CMML. Our patient remains on numerous NHPs, most notably on PLE [papaya leaf extract] tea and DRE [dandelion root extract]. He remains asymptomatic, transfusion independent with stable counts. DRE and PLE may provide an improved quality of life of patients with CMML if systemic chemotherapy can be avoided.

Dandelion Root Extract
This study says:
In conclusion, Dandelion Root Extract has shown selective efficacy in inducing two forms of programmed cell death in highly aggressive and resistant CMML cell lines.

Ayurveda
Ayurveda is the no. 1 treatment for any type of leukemia cancer and is probably the only remedy where cancer is cured without any side effect. Ayurveda offers numbers of herbs for the treatment of cancer such as Guduchi (Giloy) (Tinospora cordifolia), Ginger (Zingiber officinale), Amalaki (Emblica Officinalis, Maricha (Piper nigrum), Shunthi (Zingiber officinalis), Haritaki (Terminalia chebula), Chavya (Piper chaba), Mustak (Cyprus rotundus), Vidanga (Embelia ribes), Black Pepper (Piper nigrum), and Karpoor (Cinnamomum camphora).
See Planet Ayurveda

Herbs and Fruit
This study looked at the effects of ginger, garlic, carrot, mushroom, pomegranite and other herbs and fruits on leukaemia. it concluded: Studies suggested that herbal medicines have a great potential in combating leukaemia. These herbs and fruits could be the best candidate for future leukaemia therapy with minimal adverse effects, easier availability, and better acceptability as compared to chemotherapy and probably they will provide more potent antileukaemic agents in future.

Grape seed extract
This study says: In summary, the present study has provided evidence that GSE induces human leukemia cell death.

Grapeseed extract (source: canceractive.com)
In laboratory studies conducted by the University of Kentucky (Clinical Cancer Research), found that leukaemia cancer cells exposed to grapeseed extract (GSE) were rapidly killed through a process of cell suicide known as “apoptosis.”

76 per cent of the leukaemia cells committed suicide within 24 hours thanks to the ability of GSE to activate a protein called JNK, which regulates apoptosis.

The researchers concluded that the GSE helped the cells systems recognise in some way that the cell was ’flawed’. Although this is not the first time such an effect has been noted, the study will next need to be replicated in humans before any real conclusions can be made.

See also: Science Daily article

Feverfew
Researchers from Rochester University in New York have shown that in higher concentrations parthenolide, the active ingredient, kills leukaemia stem cells whilst leaving healthy cells intact.

The US Government has put parthenolide onto its ’Rapid Access programme’, which is a fast track designed to take experimental drugs quickly into clinical trials.

Here’s one study on Feverfew:
Feverfew: weeding out the root of leukaemia

Green tea
This study says:
Green tea catechins, particularly epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), exhibit a range of beneficial effects that position them as a promising candidate for the prevention and treatment of leukemia and myeloid dysplastic syndrome (MDS). Extensive research has demonstrated that green tea catechins induce apoptosis by increasing pro-apoptotic proteins, depolarizing the mitochondrial membrane and inducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. This apoptotic effect provides a means to selectively eliminate leukemia cells, while sparing normal healthy cells.

The ability of green tea catechins to selectively target leukemia cells, promote differentiation and modulate epigenetic alterations has significant implications for the prevention and treatment of these hematological malignancies.

Quercetin

This study says:
In summary, our findings indicate that quercetin effectively induces cell death in human leukemia cells in vitro, as well as in leukemia xenografts and that phenomenon stems from a mechanism involving multilevels of cooperation between apoptosis, autophagy, and cell-cycle arrest. The antitumor activity of quercetin both in vitro and in vivo revealed in this study, point to quercetin as an attractive antitumor agent for hematologic [blood] malignancies.

This study says:
Taken together, our data delineate that quercetin plays its anti-leukemia role by inhibiting cell viability and inducing apoptosis and autophagy in leukemia cells.

This study (Quercetin Induces Autophagy, Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Arrest In P39 Cells )says:
…the goal of this work was to identify the quercetin effects using P39 cell line, derived from a patient with MDS-chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML)…
Results
In vitro results show that quercetin inhibited proliferation of P39 cells in a dose-and-time dependent manner and that the cell death induced by quercetin is due to modulation of apoptotic process.

Artemisinin
This study says: Artemisinin enhanced the human NK cell line NK-92MI, and primary NK cell cytotoxicity against leukemia K562 cells…

Vitamin E succinate (VES)
This study says:
VES is one of the eight isomers of vitamin E, and possesses strong anticancer properties, including inhibition of tumor cell proliferation, the introduction of apoptosis, as well as suppression of tumor progression in tumor-bearing mice in multiple malignant tumors, such as prostate, breast and gastric cancer, and melanoma, lymphoma, and leukemia.Resveratrol
Resveratrol exists in a variety of plants, such as berries, grapes, mulberries, and pomegranates. Several review articles have described the antitumor potential of resveratrol in preclinical and clinical studies against various cancers, such as leukemia…

Dandelion Root Extract
The results from this study indicate that natural products, in particular Dandelion Root Extract, have great potential, as non-toxic and effective alternatives to conventional modes of chemotherapy available today.

DRE is selective to CMML cells, with little toxicity on normal, non-cancerous cells
Dandelions have been used for centuries for nourishment and therapy, with few reports of little to no toxicity, due to the lack of toxins and alkaloids present in this plant.

Vitamin D
This study concluded:
Hundreds of studies indicate a notable correlation between vitamin D levels and cancer, with numerous in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrating its anti-proliferative and pro-differentiation effects in precursor cell lines and malignant cell types. While there has been difficulty translating these results into human studies, reports of moderate success in human trials implicate the potential of applying high doses of vitamin D in alternative treatment options to chemotherapy

This study concluded:
Ultimately, the ubiquity of the vitamin D receptor and the myriad physiologic effects that have been found suggest multiple mechanisms of potential benefit from the use of Vitamin D in the treatment of hematologic disease. In the hematopoietic system there is evidence that the vitamin D pathway affects both differentiation of cells and their ultimate activation once differentiated, although the importance in various disease states remains poorly understood. It can be said with some level of certainty that vitamin D promotes differentiation of monocytes and macrophages under certain conditions, and there is a suggestion that at least a fraction of cases of myeloid disorders (i.e., CMML) may respond to vitamin D supplementation.

The 2020 review in question says: In general, a low vitamin D status seems to be associated with a higher cancer incidence. A number of vitamin D intervention trials with different types of cancer, but not all, confirmed this observation and most convincing data were presented for CRC [colorectal cancer]. Moreover, there are many in vitro and a few in vivo data indicating that vitamin D is also effective against breast and prostate cancer as well as leukemia and lymphoma.

This study says:
Treatment with vitamin D or its analogs has shown promise in primary patient cells and cell lines in numerous haematological disorders and malignancies…In malignant cells, calcitriol inhibits proliferation, induces apoptosis, promotes differentiation, sensitizes malignant cells to anti-cancer therapies, and enhances cell cycle arrest…Furthermore, vitamin D and its analogs have been well tolerated in the clinic and show promise in clinical trials for MDS.

Beta Glucans
See Polysaccharide-K (PSK)
See Chaga Mushrooms

This study (The effects of β-glucan on human immune and cancer cells) contains the following segments:Two proteoglycans from Coriolus versicolor (Yun Zhi) – PSK (Polysaccharide-K) and PSP (Polysaccharopeptide) – are among the most extensively studied β-glucan containing herbs with clinical trials information…In a series of trials from Japan and China, PSK and PSP were well tolerated without significant side effects [66,77-81]. They also prolonged the survival of some patients with carcinoma and non-lymphoid leukemia.

In summary, β-glucans act on a diversity of immune related receptors in particularly Dectin-1 and CR3, and can trigger a wide spectrum of immune responses. The targeted immune cells of β-glucans include macrophages, neutrophils, monocytes, NK cells and dendritic cells

Ashwaganda
This study showed that WA has a unique growth‐suppressive effect on leukemia/lymphoma cell lines but also suggested that the antitumor effect of WA itself is limited. Its use in combination with autophagy inhibitors or the other agents with different mechanisms of action may provide a basis for a novel therapeutic approach to the treatment of leukemia and MDS.

Tulsi
This study says:
The present study was carried out to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of O. sanctum on leukemic cell lines K562.
Results: Both dry and aqueous extracts of both types of Tulsi leaves demonstrated a significant amount of cytotoxicity against the studied cell lines.

Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy and Artemisinin
This study (Effect of hyperbaric oxygen on the anticancer effect of artemisinin on molt-4 human leukemia cells) says:

Background: Artemisinin selectively kills cancer cells which have more intracellular free iron than do normal cells. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO(2)) may be beneficial in the treatment of cancer. The hypothesis of this study was that HBO(2) enhances anticancer activity of artemisinin.

Materials and methods: Molt-4 human leukemia cells were cultured in 10 μM artemisinin and exposed for 90 min to one of three different conditions: control, room air control, and HBO(2).

Results: Differences in growth were noted after 6 h of incubation. After 48 h of incubation, growth of cells treated with artemisinin alone or HBO(2) alone was 85% of that of cells grown under artemisinin-free control conditions. Combined artemisinin and HBO(2) treatment resulted in an additional 22% decrease in growth.

Conclusion: Combined HBO(2) and artemisinin exposure may be an effective anticancer chemotherapeutic strategy.

This study says:
HBO and leukemia
Leukemia is cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells. Two recent in vitro experiments have shown promising results when treating leukemia cells with HBO. In addition, Tonomura and Granowitz, in an editorial in 2007, have commented on the effect of HBO on leukemia. They concluded that since HBO promotes apoptosis in leukemia cells, it should be further exploited as a novel treatment for leukemia. It is, however, important to emphasize that this is based on experiments performed in cell culture, and thus needs further validation from in vivo models to exclude the possibility that this is just an in vitro phenomenon. In two older experiments, studies were performed on HBO using animal leukemia model systems. In neither of the in vivo experiments were differences observed in growth rate or metastasis after HBO treatment. However, the limited number of studies might therefore call for further investigation with regard to the use of HBO in leukemia.

Sprouted Lentils
This study says:
These results suggested the cytotoxic and apoptosis inducing potential of legume extracts. Bioactive components in these selected legumes may be used as chemopreventive agents.

Barley Grass Powder
This study says:

Green barley extract (GB) was investigated for possible anti-cancer activity by examining its anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic properties on human leukemia/lymphoma cell lines. Our results indicate that GB exhibits selective anti-proliferative activity on a panel of leukemia/lymphoma cells in comparison to non-cancerous cells.

This study says:
Barley grass powder is the best functional food that provides nutrition and eliminates toxins from cells in human beings; however, its functional ingredients have played an important role as health benefit.

Anticancer and Functional Ingredients of Barley Grass
BG inhibits the cancer cell growth by the combined effects of high alkaline, strong antioxidative, phytochemicals, flavonoids, and chlorophyll…Green barley extract has anticancer effect by its antiproliferative and proapoptotic functions on leukemia and lymphoma as well as breast cancer cells of human beings.

How do I take care of my white blood cells?

Source: Cleveland Clinic

You can take care of your white blood cells by:

Practicing good hygiene to prevent infection.
Taking vitamins to boost your immune system.
Treating medical conditions where white blood cell disorders are a side effect.

Facebook CMML groups

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Cancer Types

Page updated January 2025