|
Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia
| Key Points for This Section
|
|
Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia is a childhood disease in which too many myelocytes and monocytes (immature white blood cells) are made in the bone marrow.
Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia is a rare childhood cancer that occurs more often in children younger than 2 years. Children who have neurofibromatosis type 1 and males have an increased risk of developing juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia.
In JMML, the body tells too many blood stem cells to develop into 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.
Possible signs of juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia include fever, feeling very tired, and weight loss.
These and other symptoms may be caused by JMML. Other conditions may cause the same symptoms. A doctor should be consulted if any of the following problems occur:
- Fever for no known reason.
- Having infections, such as bronchitis or tonsillitis.
- Feeling very tired.
- Easy bruising or bleeding.
- Skin rash.
- Painless swelling of the lymph nodes in the neck, underarm, stomach, or groin.
- Pain or a feeling of fullness below the ribs.
Certain factors affect prognosis (chance of recovery) and treatment options.
The prognosis (chance of recovery) and treatment options for JMML depend on the following:
- The age of the child at diagnosis.
- The number of platelets in the blood.
- The amount of a certain type of hemoglobin in red blood cells.
Back to Top
< Previous Section | Next Section > |
