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chronic lymphocytic leukemia
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What would be the general prognosis for the above in a 76 year old male?
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Im sorry Chuck .He is the same age as my Mum and to me thats no age at all now.Its scary when youre faced with something like this -i'm crud as I cant deal with scary at the moment but why dont you just stay on and speak.Thats the best thing about AB-the people here have gotten me through some dismal times -youre never alone..take care x
I know that my mother had a similar Leukemia , she was 71, I don't know if it was just the speed that the disease took hold, or my own expectations of the NHS, but (and this was in 2000) I felt from the first that the consulatants and doctors were not prepared to try very hard to help her, that's how I saw it from the very dark place we were all at over the Millenium new year, it was hard to get any information and she deteriorated rapidly. All I can suggest is that you do your best for your Dad and try to keep on top of the medical care.
Sorry to hear this Chuck.
Is your father in reasonable health, as prognosis depends on this as well as the results of the staging which he is having?
In general CLL can be a fairly indolent disease with prolonged survival, and sometimes a "watch and wait" approach is taken. Treatments, when needed, have a good success rate.
Doubtless he will be referred to a consultant haematologist who will be able to give a much more informed opinion when all results are to hand.
Easier to say than do I know, but try and not worry too much.
Is your father in reasonable health, as prognosis depends on this as well as the results of the staging which he is having?
In general CLL can be a fairly indolent disease with prolonged survival, and sometimes a "watch and wait" approach is taken. Treatments, when needed, have a good success rate.
Doubtless he will be referred to a consultant haematologist who will be able to give a much more informed opinion when all results are to hand.
Easier to say than do I know, but try and not worry too much.
MikeLitoris and Chuck
CLL is one of the commonest blood cancers of the elderly and the general prognosis varies due to many factors as slaney has pointed out.
Staging of the diseases is important in the prognosis and depends on many aspects inducing any other blood abnormalities...e.g anaemia or defy of platelets.
To "cut to the chase"....the prognosis is very "individual"
Survival rates in the 1970´s was about 5-6 years, today it is about 8-10 years and I have known patients live 10-20 years.
Lazygun would be a better opinion than my sketchy attempt so send him a FAO.
CLL is one of the commonest blood cancers of the elderly and the general prognosis varies due to many factors as slaney has pointed out.
Staging of the diseases is important in the prognosis and depends on many aspects inducing any other blood abnormalities...e.g anaemia or defy of platelets.
To "cut to the chase"....the prognosis is very "individual"
Survival rates in the 1970´s was about 5-6 years, today it is about 8-10 years and I have known patients live 10-20 years.
Lazygun would be a better opinion than my sketchy attempt so send him a FAO.
Mike - Slaney and Sqad have both made very good points.
Difficult to give a general prognosis - CLL is insidious, with symptoms developing slowly. There is currently no curative treatment - even so, most patients have a long survival time, and there are many palliative treatments available. Median survival time is 7-10 years from diagnosis, but a significant minority can survive longer.
Staging of the disease is essentially a measure of the degree of spread throughout the lymphatic system and the severity of the disease itself - the more comprehensive the spread,or profound the symptoms, such as anaemia, the more vigorously the disease needs treating.
Cytogenetic studies have been helpful in identifying specific genetic markers which can give an idea as to how the disease might spread.
To review - Health professionals will first attempt to detemine the nature and stage of the CLL. Assuming it is an early stage of the illness,It is very likely that no specific treatment of the CLL itself may happen.
They will make assessments as to secondary problems associated with CLL - infections, or anaemia etc - These will be treated appropriately.
Should the CLL have presented at a higher stage, then a decision will be made as to the most relevant treatment - most common is chemotherapy, often a combination therapy, coupled with a range of other treatment options, ranging from targeted therapy such as monoclonal antibodies, through to localised radiotherapy.Steroids can be prescribed, both to aid in the treatment of CLL and also to mitigate the effects of the chemo.
Surgery may also be considered (splenectomy) to manage a patient with a severe associated anaemia.
Overall then, it is ,unfortunately ,a common disease of the elderly - but a well understood disease offerening a lengthy median survival rate from diagnosis and with many varied treatment options available. The specialist within the hospital mo
Difficult to give a general prognosis - CLL is insidious, with symptoms developing slowly. There is currently no curative treatment - even so, most patients have a long survival time, and there are many palliative treatments available. Median survival time is 7-10 years from diagnosis, but a significant minority can survive longer.
Staging of the disease is essentially a measure of the degree of spread throughout the lymphatic system and the severity of the disease itself - the more comprehensive the spread,or profound the symptoms, such as anaemia, the more vigorously the disease needs treating.
Cytogenetic studies have been helpful in identifying specific genetic markers which can give an idea as to how the disease might spread.
To review - Health professionals will first attempt to detemine the nature and stage of the CLL. Assuming it is an early stage of the illness,It is very likely that no specific treatment of the CLL itself may happen.
They will make assessments as to secondary problems associated with CLL - infections, or anaemia etc - These will be treated appropriately.
Should the CLL have presented at a higher stage, then a decision will be made as to the most relevant treatment - most common is chemotherapy, often a combination therapy, coupled with a range of other treatment options, ranging from targeted therapy such as monoclonal antibodies, through to localised radiotherapy.Steroids can be prescribed, both to aid in the treatment of CLL and also to mitigate the effects of the chemo.
Surgery may also be considered (splenectomy) to manage a patient with a severe associated anaemia.
Overall then, it is ,unfortunately ,a common disease of the elderly - but a well understood disease offerening a lengthy median survival rate from diagnosis and with many varied treatment options available. The specialist within the hospital mo
The specialist within the hospital most involved in the treatment of this sort of disease would be the Consultant Haematologist (s).
You may find this link of value in further understanding the disease and the treatment
http://www.macmillan....clymphocytic/CLL.aspx
You may find this link of value in further understanding the disease and the treatment
http://www.macmillan....clymphocytic/CLL.aspx
Thank you for everybody's kind words and for the informative, reassuring, posts, I will read through the links later (gotta go see the old fella shortly). The doctors are not saying a lot at the moment other than they have to do more tests (fair enough I guess) so I suppose I will just have to wait and see what the results of the tests are and keep everything crossed. it's all come as a bit of a shock as I can't remember him ever really being ill and with his news and my brother being in hospital this week (kidney stones) it feels like the family is falling like flies at the moment (I'm hoping these things don't come in threes!)
Thanks to all for your answers again.
Thanks to all for your answers again.
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