Happy New Year! Over a year of monthly meetings, CLL Society Bloodline will teach the basics needed to understand CLL, starting with definitions and diagnoses this month. It will also provide news, help with acronyms and new vocabulary words, and offer simple, fun quizzes. The cycle has just re-started and is updated yearly. If you are new to CLL / SLL, expect to learn many new words and acronyms and even to be overwhelmed at first, but it does get much easier over time.
MONTHLY QUIZ (same old silly quiz): Neutrophils are:
- A type of immature white blood cell.
- Important in preventing bruising or bleeding.
- A white blood cell important in fighting infections, especially those caused by bacteria.
- The blood cells that, when they become malignant, cause CLL.
- Blood cells were first discovered in Switzerland, a neutral country.
The correct answer is 3. Neutrophils, or “neuts,” are the most common white blood cell in the body and are critical in fighting infections, especially bacterial ones. They are also involved in inflammation and are the primary cells found in pus. If we have too few neuts, a low absolute neutrophil count (ANC) called neutropenia from CLL, or medications such as chemo or venetoclax, we may be at risk of severe infections. They are called neutrophils because their granules stain neutral under the microscope. To learn more about neutrophils and the whole immune system, consider the well-illustrated, easy to read book IMMUNE: A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive by Philipp Dettmer.
NEWS: As the new year begins, we are deeply grateful for everyone’s support that allows us to offer more education, services and support to all those with whose lives are touched by CLL in 2025.
- Join us on January 9th for the webinar ASH 2024 Comes to You! with Drs. Brian Koffman and Nitin Jain.
- The fourth episode of CLL Society’s CareCast podcast is out now – Lifestyle, Mindset, and Community: A Holistic Approach to CLL with patient advocate Peter Titlebaum.
- CLL Society has launched our CLL Patients without Care Partners Support Group. People are welcome to sign up for the new support group, which will hold their first meeting on January 26th.
- Bone Marrow Donors for CLL: Joining a bone marrow registry is easy and can save a life. CLL patient and friend to CLL Society, Mike Peters from The Alarm has Richter’s transformation and is advocating for the importance of becoming a bone marrow donor. While CLL patients can’t donate, please ask family and friends to help. See: https://cllsociety.org/2024/11/become-a-bone-marrow-donor-and-save-lives-of-those-with-cll/
THE BASICS: Definitions and Diagnosis. CLL is a slow-growing or “indolent” or “chronic” leukemia/ lymphoma of the B-lymphocytes, a subtype of white blood cells and an essential part of our immune system. CLL is a leukemia because it’s found in the blood, and a lymphoma because it arises from a lymphocyte. It can be found in the peripheral blood, bone marrow, and lymph tissue, including the lymph nodes and the spleen, and rarely in other organs, such as the liver, kidneys, and even the brain and lungs. SLL (small lymphocytic lymphoma) is the same disease that has not significantly spilled over into the blood. CLL / SLL is a cancer of the B cells, a type of lymphocyte involved in making antibodies. CLL is diagnosed by finding ≥5000 clonal (genetically identical) B lymphocytes in the blood for at least three months. SLL, where there are fewer than 5000 clonal B lymphocytes in the blood, is usually diagnosed when an enlarged lymph node is biopsied, and the same type of cells found in the bloodstream with CLL are seen in the biopsied node. The clonal nature of the B lymphocytes should be confirmed by flow cytometry, a test that identifies specific surface markers on the cell, a sort of immune fingerprint. A bone marrow biopsy and imaging such as CT or PET scans are rarely needed to make the diagnosis and should not be routinely done at diagnosis without a good reason.
WORD/ACRONYM OF THE MONTH: Clone
A group of genetically identical cells that originates from a single parent cell. For example, leukemia cells develop from one original abnormal cell. CLL is a clonal cancer, though to confuse things, one may have several sub-clones of CLL that fight for dominance and respond differently to treatment. That is why combinations of drugs are sometimes used in therapy to wipe out all the subclones.
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