Experience I'm a Doctor of Medicine. Licensed/certified physician and surgeon and specialist in Medical
Oncology and Radiation therapy in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and the European Union. Background in Radiation Therapy, Medical Oncology, Radiation Protection, Nuclear Medicine, Diagnostic Radiology, Gynecological Oncology, Clinical Pathology, Clinical Cytology,Hematology and Internal Medicine.
M.D. from the faculty of medicine, Royal Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Have also been an exchange student at the Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem Israel. Former medical consultant, Swedish National Board of Radiation Protection. Former Police Surgeon and Medical Examiner, Stockholm Police Department. Former Chief Medical Officer, The Royal Guards, The Royal Horse Guards and the Royal Household Brigade, Royal Swedish Army Medical Corps. Now in private practice in Stockholm, Sweden.
I also answer questions in these other categories: General History,
Military History,
Brain Tumors,
Breast Cancer,
Colon Cancer
Question QUESTION: A little background....
My brother had ALL. I was his BM donor and he is now cured (18+ years since transplant). My dad had non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He has been in remission for 5+ years (but I guess they don't ever consider this one "cured"). My mom was diagnosed with AML in May. She had 2 rounds of chemo with her latest bone marrow test showing 6% "bad cells." Her doctor was willing to go with this %, hoping that once her WBC count raised, the "bad count" would decrease. From her bloodwork today, her WBC count is great (8.5); her platelets are critically high. She has to get another bone marrow biopsy tomorrow. Question one....is this a definite indicator that she is NOT in remission? After further investigating (I'm a professor...and have probably over-researched this....), I'm wondering if she had a type of MPD that evolved into AML (she did not have regular bloodwork/physicals). If this is the case, could the high platelet count be indicative of still having a MPD but not AML (or is this even possible)? If this is the case, should I/could I get tested for this "Philadelphia Chromosome" that I've been reading about? It seems that there is something genetic here.
ANSWER: Dear Rebecca, I'm a Swede living in Sweden and English is not my first language. Americans are very fond of acronyms which drive the rest of us crazy! Also your mail is full of them! Please clarify your mail by writing EVERYTHING out fully in order to avoid misunderstandings and mistakes as much as possible!
Yes you can be tested for the Philadelphia chromosome if you so wish. There MAY be something genetic here at least with regards to your mother and brother, but it is far from certain since coincidences do happen. With regards to your mother's condition it is not a DEFINITE indication that she is not in remission but it MAY be an indication of it. Her bone marrow biopsy will probably give us a DEFINITE answer on this! Your other speculation I find VERY improbable. Please do keep me posted!
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QUESTION: New with no acronyms :) I used to live in Joensuu, Finland, by the way. Sweden is beautiful!
A little background....
My brother had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. I was his bone marrow donor and he is now cured (18+ years since transplant). My dad had non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He has been in remission for 5+ years (but I guess they don't ever consider this one "cured"). My mom was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia in May. She had 2 rounds of chemo with her latest bone marrow test showing 6% "bad cells." Her doctor was willing to go with this %, hoping that once her WBC count raised, the "bad count" would decrease. From her bloodwork today, her white blood count is great (8.5); her platelets are critically high. She has to get another bone marrow biopsy tomorrow. Question one....is this a definite indicator that she is NOT in remission? After further investigating (I'm a professor...and have probably over-researched this....), I'm wondering if she had a type of MPD that evolved into AML (she did not have regular bloodwork/physicals). If this is the case, could the high platelet count be indicative of still having a Myeloproliferative Disorder but not her leukemia (or is this even possible)? If this is the case, should I/could I get tested for this "Philadelphia Chromosome" that I've been reading about? It seems that there is something genetic here.
ANSWER: Thanks! Well I regard Finland as my second home country! Kiitos/tack (thanks - since Finland has 2 official languages, Finnish & Swedish I'm giving my thanks in both languages, Finnish first)! So you even lived in Karelia? How come? What on Earth did you do there? Can I even call you a Karjalalainen (inhabitant of Karelia) or in Swedish Karelare?
Back to your question. Mostly my reply is identical to my previous one.
With regards to your question concerning your mother's high blood platelet count it is in itself consistent with a myeloproliferative disorder called polycythemia vera that may develop into an acute leukemia (but hardly the other way around). But her white blood cell level is ok. I doubt any conclusions can be made only based on these numbers etc. We have to wait until we have the bone marrow biopsy results since that will give us a very good picture of if there is any leukemia or any other myeloproliferative disease including Polycythemia vera there. Please do keep me posted!
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QUESTION: Thanks for the response. I have not used this service before, so I don't know if it's okay that I keep replying this way. I'm sorry if not. I won't write again until I hear back from my mother's bone marrow biopsy.
Joensuu....we were there for 9 months. My husband played for Joensuun Kataja (the men's basketball team). We have lived all around the world due to him playing basketball. We have some very good friends from Joensuu and from Helsinki that come to stay with us occassionally. One of our Finnish friends just wrote to say that her 18 year old friend just fell out of remission. So sad; these cancers travel the globe for sure. I did pick up some Finnish, but no Swedish. I read lots about Karelia's history. I would be proud to be part Karjalalainen.
Could my mom have had a myeloproliferative disorder that turned into leukemia and it went "backwards" into a myeloproliferative disorder again? That high platelet count just seems weird....or maybe I'm just grabbing hoping that she does not still have her leukemia. I will keep you updated. Between my brother, dad, and mom, we keep getting more and more education on all of this--unfortunately!
Thanks again,
Rebecca
Answer You did?! Though Finnish grammar is so hard! VERY GOOD! And absolutely NOT related to English at all! Which Swedish actually is and quite closely too! It is somewhere in between English and German sometimes closer to English and sometimes closer to German. It is POSSIBLE that she has had a myeloproliferative disease that later developed into a leukemia. But that is just speculation, no facts available. The opposite way is very improbable. But I can not completely exclude the possibility of a new myeloproliferative disorder. But again speculation.
Yes please do!
