Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia is the pathology that struck Silvio Berlusconi, a severe disease that develops above all in old age.
You rarely hear about myelomonocytic leukemia, but in reality this type of pathology affects one person in every hundred thousand and is chronic. There are cures today that can be implemented to provide the sick person with a good quality of life.
Myelomonocytic Leukemia by Silvio Berlusconi, what it is. Credits: ansa photo (tantasalute.it)
In the case of Silvio Berlusconi, however, there was nothing to be done. Leukemia was already discovered in old age and the other pre-existing conditions have not helped at all.
Chronic meilomonocytic leukemia: what is it?
Myelomonocytic leukemia is a rare blood cancer, resulting in abnormal proliferation of white blood cells. It usually arises after the age of 65 and manifests itself as a blood cancer.
Myelomonocytic leukemia symptoms (tantasalute.it)
However, the disease can develop in two different ways:
The syndrome myelodysplastic determines a malfunction of the bone marrow formation processhealthy cells are no longer sufficient this means the risk of bleeding, anemia, infection. The syndrome myeloproliferative it is a condition of excessive production of bone marrow cells and therefore a proliferation of red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells leading to an elevated risk of thrombosis.
I symptoms of the disease are: thrombosis, hemorrhages, continuous formation of hematomas, fluid formations, enlarged spleen, subcutaneous nodules, infections, wasting. The cause instead they are: genetic anomalies, age, malformations, family predispositions and therapies for other tumours. For the diagnosis it is important to contact a specialist, it is basically done with a sample and a smear. If the value of monocytes has been higher than 1000 per microlitre for at least three months, it means that there is a pathology. However, you should always look at the white blood cell count.
There are two types of CMML, primary e secondary. Once the diagnosis has been made, a fine needle aspiration of the bone marrow must be done. You can also explore the cause with genetic and molecular testing. The chronic condition can degenerate into acute leukemia, so it is important that it is treated immediately as in the case of Berlusconi. Everything also depends on other diseases, the former Prime Minister in fact already had other pathologies and an advanced age so his clinical picture was not easy.
Among the therapies there is the transplantation of compatible stem cells or taking medications which monitor the progress. If the disease progresses, transfusions are needed. It is an important and severe situation but manageable if discovered in time for adequate treatment.