Chronic lymphocytic leukemia

For a lay person:

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a slow-growing cancer of a type of white blood cell called a lymphocyte. It mainly affects older adults and is often found by chance on a blood test. Over time it can cause swollen glands, tiredness and a higher risk of infections.

For a trained medical person:

A clonal proliferation of mature CD5+ B lymphocytes in blood, marrow and lymphoid tissue, often with hypogammaglobulinaemia and autoimmune cytopenias. Diagnosis is by sustained B-cell lymphocytosis with characteristic flow cytometry immunophenotype, with staging (Rai or Binet) and genetic markers guiding prognosis. Early asymptomatic disease is usually monitored; treatment for active disease uses targeted agents such as BTK or BCL-2 inhibitors, sometimes with anti-CD20 antibodies.

In Chinese medicine:

Liu and Tseng's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Early Stage: Insidious Evil Toxins; Knotted Phlegm and Stasis; Both Qi and Yin Deficiency with Blood Stasis; Phlegm Stasis and Damp-Heat. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: This needs specialist haematology care; Chinese medicine is adjunctive at most. Seek prompt care for fever or signs of infection, rapidly enlarging glands, bleeding or unusual paleness, and check with your haematologist before taking herbs, which can interact with cancer drugs.