Informative Essay On Cancer

Cancer is known as one of the most deadly diseases in the world today. Cancer affects everyone: men, women, the young, the old, the rich and the poor ("10 Facts about Cancer”). Cancer puts a burden on whoever has it that will last them the rest of their life. Leukemia is a type of cancer that is in the blood cells. Leukemia starts in the bone marrow, which is the soft material inside bones where blood cells are created from stem cells ("Leukemia”). Cancer forming in someone’s blood is very dangerous because of how it can spread rapidly throughout the body. In the case of leukemia, cancer attacks the white blood cells that are used to fight off disease ("Leukemia”). This form of cancer is deadly because it damages the body’s immune system leaving

Most of the time, the treatment depends on what kind of leukemia a person has, and also the stage of the cancer. One of the most common ways to treat leukemia is through chemotherapy and radiation ("Leukemia”). Radiation therapy is a treatment that uses high-energy x-rays to keep cancer from spreading throughout the body ("Leukemia”). Although chemotherapy and radiation are proven to kill leukemia, it is very hard on someone’s body going through these treatments. Radiation has many side effects including vomiting, loss of appetite, nausea and hair loss ("Leukemia”). Another form of treatment for leukemia is bone marrow transplantation. This technique is usually used when chemotherapy is not working for patients with acute leukemia, and also provides a good chance of remission for chronic leukemia ("Leukemia”). Though this treatment is also rough on the individual, it has proven to be successful. Radiation, chemotherapy, and bone marrow transplantation are the most common and successful forms of treatment for leukemia ("Leukemia”). Other forms of treatment include removing the spleen, anti-emetics, and the infusion of donor lymphocytes ("Leukemia”). Leukemia is a serious, life threatening disease that affects many families each year. But with the correct diagnoses and treatment, individuals can go on to remission or become fully healthy. Doctors have studied ways to combat and cure this disease for many years in order to be able to treat its victims. Fortunately, with the treatments today, the survival rate has escalated and more and more people are winning the battle against