It all started with bleeding gums. A trivial symptom, which has not alerted Amber Cunningham-Rogan, a 21-year-old Scottish student.
“”I didn’t imagine that it could have a link with cancer. But it is true that I was going to the general practitioner regularly with symptoms that did not make sense“She explains to Sun.
Numbness of the members, white blood cells increasing …
In parallel, the young woman also felt numbness in her hands and legs. But his analyzes and other scanners carried out remained normal.
Doctors discovered him, in 2020 only, an abnormally high number of white blood cells, after a blood test. A biopsy then confirms chronic myeloid leukemia (LMC). A rare form of blood cancer which mainly affects the elderly.
When a banal symptom hides a serious illness
Chronic myeloid leukemia (LMC) is cancer of the bone marrow, this spongy tissue in the heart of the bones that produces all blood cells. Red blood cells transport oxygen, white blood cells defend us against infections and platelets allow blood to coagulate.
In the LMC, the marrow makes an excessive quantity of white blood cells, including some immature. Their accumulation disrupts the normal functioning of other blood cells and causes fatigue, infections or coagulation anomalies.
In France, around 600 new cases are diagnosed each year, or 15 to 20 % of adult leukemia. The disease is mostly over 50, but can appear at any age.
A chromosomal anomaly in question
It is the first disease associated with a precise genetic anomaly: the Philadelphia chromosome. “”This abnormal chromosome results from an exchange of a small piece of genetic material between chromosomes 9 and 22, exchange giving birth to an abnormal gene, bcr-abl, at the origin of the BCR-ABL protein“said Professor Mauricette Michalet, hematologist at the Edouard Herriot (Lyon) hospital, in a previous article.
“This anomaly leads to a permanent proliferation of marrow cells with deregulation of cell death, which leads to an excessive quantity of white blood cells in the blood.”
Often, the LMC is discovered by chance, during a routine blood test. The other most frequent symptoms are:
- Extreme fatigue;
- Bruises;
- Unusual bleeding;
- Repeated infections;
- A fever or night sweats;
- Bone or joint pain;
- Weight loss;
- Pale skin;
- A shortness of breath;
- Swelling of the lymph nodes;
- A feeling of abdominal fullness.
In addition, doctors distinguish three phases: chronic (90 % of diagnoses), accelerated, then blastic (advanced stage). Without treatment, life expectancy is counted in years, or even in months.
Targeted treatments that change the situation
Since the arrival of imatinib (Glivec), targeted therapies have revolutionized care. These drugs block the proliferation of cancer cells and allow patients to live longer and in better conditions. Other molecules such as dasatinib (sprycel) or nilotinib have completed the therapeutic arsenal.
The bone marrow transplant remains the only curative option, but it is risky and requires a compatible donor. For the majority of patients, the disease is now controlled in the long term.
Amber has also benefited from these advances. After six months of targeted oral treatment, she obtained one “Profo molecular responseNDE “, a sign that his cancer had become undetectable at a certain level.”For me, stopping treatment is not only a question of drugs, it is a question of trying to resume my life in hand“, She concludes.