Benzene Leukemia Law Blog : Benzene and Leukemia Lawyer & Attorney : Burke & Eisner Law Firm : Benzene Exposure, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma

According to recent reports, former UCLA American and NBA star athlete, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 62, recently publicly announced that he has been diagnosed with leukemia. Abdul-Jabbar, who is known for being a private celebrity, was reportedly diagnosed last December but chose not to publicly talk about his fight with cancer until now. He tells reporters that he decided to go public about his health in order to help others who are also living with leukemia and other forms of cancer.

The type of leukemia diagnosis Abdul-Jabbar received is known as Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia. Leukemia is a cancer of the blood that can be caused by benzene exposure and is one of the many cancers that doctors and researchers have not yet found a cure for. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is currently working as a special assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers and says he is now taking oral medication to help treat his disease.

Background on Leukemia

Leukemia affects the blood cells in the body and can affect adults and children alike. When a person is diagnosed with leukemia it means their bone marrow is producing abnormal white blood cells. These abnormal white cells are known as leukemia cells. The white blood cells in the body are there to help fight off infection. Therefore, when someone receives a leukemia diagnosis it means they are at higher risk of infection since their white blood cells are not working properly.

Leukemia risk factors

One common risk regarding leukemia is radiation. Radiation can often cause acute myeloid leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, or acute lymphocytic leukemia. Studies and research have also linked many types of leukemia to benzene exposure. Benzene leukemia can be caused when someone inhales or ingests benzene, a toxic chemical that is added into gasoline, over an extended period of time. Though there is currently no cure for leukemia, there are ways to prevent and treat the disease.

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U.S. News and World Report reported yesterday that researchers have been able, for the first time ever, to decode the complete DNA sequence of a person with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia( AML ).  The findings are reported in Nature.

Richard K. Wilson, director of the Washington University Genome Sequencing Center, in St. Louis and senior study author, said that there were 8 previously unknown mutations discovered along with 2 that were already known - mutations associated with AML.
 

"We found mutations in genes that make a lot of sense when normal cells become cancer cells," Wilson explained. "That they seem to be fairly unique to this particular patient says on the one hand that this is a complicated disease. But the complications validate our approach -- we have to look at a number of patients to see not only what is different but what they have in common."

"Technically, this is a great achievement," added Richard Gibbs, director of the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston. "This really is a new era, based on genome studies. There is real clinical applicability, and that is what's remarkable about it."

 

The study laid out the genome of a woman in her fifties who died of AML.  The picture is that the mutations that cause a cell to become cancerous happen in sequence.  Each mutation pushes the cell more to becoming cancerous until the final mutation occurs.   In this woman's case, every tumor cell had nine of the mutations.  Since the tenth mutation wasn't found, it is believed to be the last to occur and possibly the tipping point to the cell becoming cancerous.

Gibbs has said that while the  changes in this case are complicated that is no reason to be pessimistic.  "It is complicated, but that doesn't mean we're not going to understand it."
 

New technology may someday make it possible to perform genome sequencing for all cancer patients who need it, Gibbs said. "In the past, our ability to get the information has been questioned," he said. "When it was $10 million a shot, that was one thing. If it costs $5,000 or $10,000 per case, there is no argument about getting the information." 

The Washington University center has already started genetic sequencing of a second person with AML, which Wilson said was chosen in part because "it is a cancer type that is extremely aggressive, with no good cure. We have seen some pretty good treatments for other cancers, but this one lags behind."

Genome studies are being done for other types of cancer.  At the Baylor center, studies are being done for the brain tumor glioblastoma, lung cancer and pancreatic malignancies.  At Washington University, studies are being done for lung and breast cancers.

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• Shortness of Breath
  
• Fatigue (Feeling Sleepy or Tired)
  
• Bruise easily
  
• Cuts heal very slowly or you bleed easily
  
• Repeated infections
  
• Joint Pain
  
• Mild fevers

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