Leukemia in the news

["Pickett, Bruce D" <Bruce.Pickett@PSS.Boeing.com>]

The following article appeared in the Seattle Times newspaper on June
10, 1998 under the title "Understanding Leukemia". The same article
appears under the title "Strategies Vary In Fight Against Leukemia" on
the Times' web site at:


http://www.seattletimes.com/news/health-science/html98/leuk_061098.html

Note how paragraphs 4 and 5 link TMI with Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Strategies vary in fight against leukemia  

by Ian Ith  Seattle Times staff reporter  

Seattle Schools chief John Stanford's battle with leukemia has focused
local attention on advances in treatment of the often-fatal disease -
and on how much remains unknown.  

Progress is clear. Three decades ago, a diagnosis of leukemia was
practically a death sentence; survival rates have since tripled. Still,
thousands die of leukemia's many forms every year.  

Researchers aren't sure what causes leukemia or how to prevent it. But
they know the disease represents an alteration in the genetic coding
within bone-marrow cells. And they know some things, including radiation
and chemical exposure, are linked to that.  

For example, citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, survived the
atomic bomb blasts of August 1945 only to die from leukemia at high
rates.  

In the U.S., leukemia rates climbed among people exposed to the 1979
nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. Researchers have
also tied industrial exposure to high levels of benzene, a harsh solvent
found in unleaded gas, to leukemia. And children born with some
congenital birth defects, such as Down syndrome, appear to be at higher
risk of developing leukemia.  

A recent study suggests children whose fathers smoke are at higher risk
of leukemia because smoking damages sperm.  

Still, most cases of leukemia don't have any identifiable cause, said
Dr. Dana Matthews, a researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research
Center.  

So for now, researchers are stumped.  

Leukemia still kills more American children between ages 2 and 15 than
any other disease.  

But the disease strikes 10 times more adults than kids. Age increases
the risk. Most victims are over 60.  

But treatment is improving constantly, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center is a world leader in research and treatment, making
Seattle a headquarters for the war on leukemia.  

Many recent innovations have improved bone-marrow transplant techniques,
said Beverly Torok-Storb, a Hutchinson researcher. Cancerous marrow is
killed with radiation and drugs, then replaced with healthy donor cells.
Such transplants take patients to the brink of death and then - it's
hoped - bring them back to health.  

Still, leukemia is a broad and varied disease, and a transplant isn't
the right option for many patients. It can be too risky for weaker
patients, for example. Some who need a transplant can't find a suitable
marrow donor.  

Lately, research is focusing on lower levels of radiation and
chemotherapy to decrease harmful side effects, in hopes of making
transplants an option for more patients.  

But even with all the optimism, doctors still can't predict a day when
everyone is cured without a tough fight.  




Ian Ith's e-mail address is: iith@seattletimes.com