Answer
Yes, Janie, the young patient has acute lymphocytic cancer.In this condition a rouge stem cell of a agranulocyte colony forming unit is proliferation out of control and flooding her blood stream with immature dysfunctional lymphocytes. These immature cells are unable to do their duty of protecting Janie from infection . What is worse is that they are impairing the functions of the red bone marrow which is that is the source of leukocytes, erythrocytes and platelets. As a consequence, none of the defensive formed elements of the blood, including the platelets, are able to protect Jamie. This is the case because the bone marrow is unable to produce required cells and hormones; in addition, the granulocytes are not able to achieve functional maturity, Because her red bone marrow is not functioning optimally, Janie's hematocrit is low; her clot forming mechanism is impaired; also, her disease fighting leukocytes are immature and inadequate in numbers. Consequently Janie suffers from anemia, because her red bone marrow cannot produce enough erythrocytes,. She probably has periodical bleeding because of red bone marrow is not producing enough platelets . Janie is at great risk for getting an infection because her disease fighting leukocytes-- both granulocytes and agranulocytes-- are dysfunctional ( agranulocytes) or are inadequate in numbers( granulocytes) to protect her. Moreover, the oxygen carrying capacity of her blood is diminished( resulting in anemia), and she stands to lose blood by hemorrhage because she has an inadequate number of platelets. She has a large number of white blood cell, but they are either immature or cancerous, and are not able to defend her against infectious agents.
Work Step by Step
Janie has acute lymphocytic anemia. This is a condition in which a rouge stem cell of a lymphoid colony forming unit proliferates out of nuclear control and floods the bone marrow and blood with a large number of immature dysfunctional lymphocytes. Although Janie's white blood cell count is very high -- this would normally signal good defence against infection-, Janie is at great risk because the large number lymphocytes are cancerous, and immature. They, therefore, cannot carry out their designed function of protecting Janie against infectious agents.
The large number of immature lypmhycytes also impair the protective functions of the blood in the following ways:
1. They flood the red bone marrow and impair and suppress the production of granulocytes.
by suppressing the secretion of blood factors by stromal bone marrow cells and
granulocytes
2.. Red blood cell production is impaired. This has a negative impact on the oxygen-carrying
capacity of the blood.
3. Platelets are not produced in adequate numbers which predisposes to
internal hemorrhages.
This patient is patient is likely to develop the following signs and symptoms(SS):
a. Hemmorhages
b. Fever
c. weight loss
d. Anemia
e. Bone pain
This is a life-threatening disease. The patient usually dies from massive hemorrhage or
an overwhelming infection
Treatment usually involves radiation, chemotherapy and stem cell transplants
