Because a blood cancer is a disease that spreads throughout the body, the staging system for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is very different from solid tumor cancers. Once the CLL diagnosis is determined, doctors focus on the blood count to gauge how advanced the disease is and when treatment is necessary. Specifically they look at the abnormal increase in the number of lymphocytes (a type of white blood cells) in the blood and marrow.
“It’s sometimes very confusing to patients,” says Dr. Nicole Lamanna, a leukemia specialist at Columbia University School of Medicine, because often treatment is not required for many years.
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Dr. Nicole Lamanna is a hematologist/oncologist at Columbia University Medical Center. Her research interests include lymphoid leukemias, specifically chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Read More
Because a blood cancer is a disease that spreads throughout the body, the staging system for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is very different from solid tumor cancers. Once the CLL diagnosis is determined, doctors focus on the blood count to gauge how advanced the disease is and when treatment is necessary. Specifically they look at the abnormal increase in the number of lymphocytes (a type of white blood cells) in the blood and marrow.
“It’s sometimes very confusing to patients,” says Dr. Nicole Lamanna, a leukemia specialist at Columbia University School of Medicine, because often treatment is not required for many years.
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