Leukemia in children is known as that tissue disease or cancer, affecting the lymphatic system and bone marrow. It is common to observe that it usually affects children a lot and it is quite a worrying fact.
Leukemia usually originates in the medulla where new blood cells form. With an analysis it will be possible to verify how in the blood there are not enough red blood cells, white blood cells, or normal platelets, which will determine a series of symptoms.
What Causes Leukemia in a Child?
The main factor is unknown that can cause leukemia in children. When a study is done on its origin, most children do not present any type of risk factor that has triggered this disease.
Yes, it has been shown that many of the factors for the existence of leukemia is when there is a DNA alteration inside normal bone marrow cells, therefore, it causes them to grow out of control and become leukemia cells.
DNA is the chemical that sets up how genes have to behave, and these genes control how cells are supposed to function. Genes must help grow and divide to oncogene cells. And they also help control cell division and cell death, called tumor suppressor genes.
Cancer is caused when the DNA undergoes a mutation and it can no longer control tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes. The common type of DNA altering is known as chromosomal translocation. In this translocation the DNA of one chromosome breaks off and joins a different chromosome. When this shedding occurs it can affect oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes.
Genetic risk factors
The main factors that have been ruled out the most and that make up this type of cancer are usually due to the inheritance of one of the parents, or because these changes in DNA are altered randomly during periods of your life.
Hereditary
Some children inherit DNA mutations that come from one of their parents. A condition called Li-Fraumeni syndrome It results from an inherited mutation of the TP53 tumor suppressor gene and increases the likelihood of developing leukemia and other types of cancer.
By genetic and environmental factors
Many of the genes control how harmful chemicals are broken down and removed. Some children do not have the ability for their genes (in this case inherited) can break down certain chemicals They are harmful when exposed to them. This combination of genetic factors and exposure to harmful substances increase the risk of leukemia.
Another case is that childhood leukemia can be caused by a combination of some genetic changes that happen very early in life and being exposed to certain viruses later than normal. It is known as "Delayed infection" and usually manifests after the first year of life, affecting the immune system and causing leukemia.
Other factors that we can include are by long exposures to radiation or to the treatment of certain chemotherapy medications. Children with Down syndrome are also more likely to develop acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), and having siblings with leukemia increases the risk of suffering from it.
Investigations do not stop looking for where it lies and what are the causes that originate it, since in some cases there is still no explanation about it. You can read much more about what is related to leukemia knowing the importance of donate bone marrow or discovering the new advances in cancer today.