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Where Is It In The Body?

Where Is It In The Body?

December 15, 2021
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As a liquid cancer of the blood cells, leukemia never exists in only one place. It is usually all over the body, but confined within blood vessels and bone marrow.

 

This is unlike cancers of solid organs, such as the lungs or colon, that tend to exist in distinct places within the body.

 

This is why surgery plays no role in the management of this disease. This is also why typical cancer staging such as stage one, being a single localized site, and stage four, being metastatic, is also not relevant to leukemia. Rather, we use molecular classifications to give estimates on overall prognosis.

 

Key Takeaways

1. As a liquid cancer of the blood cells, leukemia never exists in only one place.

2. It is usually all over the body, but confined within blood vessels and bone marrow.

3. This is unlike cancers of solid organs, such as the lungs or colon, that tend to exist in distinct places within the body.

4. Surgery plays no role in leukemia management and typical cancer staging is also not relevant.

5. With Leukemia, molecular classifications give estimates on overall prognosis.