Question 1

why is dry tap found during bone marrow aspiration in patients with leukemia?

Accepted Answer

Dry Tap: This refers to the physician not being able to aspirate any liquid bone marrow when obtaining a sample.  This can be caused by chemotherapy causing the bone marrow to be empty, scarring of the bone marrow (fibrosis), prior radiation to the area of the procedure, and sometime to persistent or recurrent leukemia.

Question 2

do bone marrow aspirations  mean leukemia?

Accepted Answer

No.: Blood cells are made in the bone marrow.  An aspiration (and biopsy) is usually done to understand why there is a blood cell problem, or to stage a known cancer that can involve the marrow.  Both benign conditions and malignancies can be diagnosed by this simple procedure.

Question 3

what to do about myelocytic leukemia 3) the bone marrow was filled with?

Accepted Answer

Your Hematologist ca: A blood specialist(Hematologist) can help you address this matter. further.  Myeloid leukemia is typically a chronic disease for which recent treatments have made a major impact to control this disease. Please check with your Doctor whether you have CML(Chronic Myeloid Leukemia or AML(Acute Myeloid leukemia) as the prognosis as well as the treatments are different for these two disease entities.

Question 4

please explain why people have to donate bone marrow when someone has leukemia?

Accepted Answer

Leukemia: Is part and parcel of the bone marrow. A transplant with healthy bone marrow has a good chance of eliminating the leukemia, and by definition provides non diseased stem cells.

Question 5

my sister has leukemia how many times could i donate bone marrow not just for her but if someone else in my family needs some.?

Accepted Answer

Technically > once: Unlike other solid organs, bone marrow is a renewable resource as long as it is not damaged by chemotherapy or radiation.  God forbid if you have to donate more than once to different or the same patient, allow some time (about 2 months for bone marrow and perhaps 1 month for peripheral blood stem cells) between your generous donations.

Question 6

how does leukemia affect bone marrow?

Accepted Answer

Yes: Leukemia is a cancer of blood cells and almost by definition includes the bone marrow.
I can't think of an exception to bone marrow involvement in leukemia (although maybe some case report does exist...).

Question 7

how soon after a bone marrow biopsy could the diagnosis of leukemia be made?

Accepted Answer

Depends / 1 week: It depends. If the bone marrow is "packed" with cancer cells it may be obvious on an initial review by a hematologist and/or hematopathologist.  However, for a new diagnosis i generally tell patients it may potentially be a week for special stains/studies and "send out" studies to fully characterize the bone marrow.

Question 8

leukemia is a type of cancer.. so if it is then how does bone marrow stop the cancer?

Accepted Answer

Two Ways: Bone marrow transplants help cure aggressive leukemia in two ways.  First, it allows doctors to give high dose chemotherapy and sometimes total body radiation therapy therapy that have a higher chance of killing every last leukemia cell.  Second, it essentially gives the patient a new immune system that will hopefully recognize and kill any remaining leukemia cells.

Question 9

is there another way to find out if you have leukemia other than a bone marrow biopsy?

Accepted Answer

Yes: Often a bone marrow biopsy is needed to fully characterize a leukemia, but leukemia may be noted in the peripheral blood when it is smeared on a glass slide (pbs). Also, special tests on blood such as flow cytometry can (at least partially) characterize certain leukemias (eg, cll).

Question 10

is leukopenia the symptom of bone marrow cancers like leukemia?

Accepted Answer

Sometimes: Leukopenia (low white blood cell count) can be a symptom of bone marrow cancers like leukemia or myelodysplasia.  There are many other less serious reasons to have low white blood cells too.

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Doctor answers about:

How often do leukemia patients need bone marrow

A member asked:

Why is dry tap found during bone marrow aspiration in patients with leukemia?

A member asked:

Do bone marrow aspirations mean leukemia?

A member asked:

What to do about myelocytic leukemia 3) the bone marrow was filled with?

A member asked:

Please explain why people have to donate bone marrow when someone has leukemia?

A member asked:

My sister has leukemia how many times could i donate bone marrow not just for her but if someone else in my family needs some.?

A member asked:

How does leukemia affect bone marrow?

A member asked:

How soon after a bone marrow biopsy could the diagnosis of leukemia be made?

A member asked:

Leukemia is a type of cancer.. so if it is then how does bone marrow stop the cancer?

A member asked:

Is there another way to find out if you have leukemia other than a bone marrow biopsy?

A member asked:

Is leukopenia the symptom of bone marrow cancers like leukemia?

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