Benzene and AML
Acute Myeloid Leukemia, otherwise known as AML is a relatively rare type of cancer affecting the white blood cells, which results in a drop in platelets, red blood cells and healthy white blood cells alike.
Occupational exposure (often within the oil industry) to a number of organic solvents such as Benzene has been linked to the contraction of AML in many cases, as Benzene is known to be an in vitro carcinogen.
Chronic exposure to aromatic organic solvents such as Benzene or it’s many derivatives can severely increase ones potential for contracting AML, as ones risk or infection also rises steadily with age.
As an acute form of Leukemia, which spreads rapidly within bone marrow, AML can be fatal within weeks of infection although some treatments such as chemotherapy or even a stem cell transplant shave proven affective.
Although Benzene has often been linked to AML, there are many other factors that can increase one’s risk of infection such as increased exposure to ionizing radiation, as radiologist had a higher risk of infection from overexposure to X-rays before safer practices and guidelines were adopted for such procedures, additionally, survivors from the atomic bomb blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki also had an increased rate of AML. Ironically enough, exposure to anti cancer chemotherapy can increase the risk of developing AML. Other factors that may increase ones chances of contracting AML are not affected by chemical or radiation exposures at all, but rather by congenital defects such as Down Syndrome.
Some of the earliest warning signs associated with Acute Myeloid Leukemia are fatigue and/of shortness of breath due to anemia, easy bleeding or bruising even with mild trauma due to a lack of sufficient platelets in the blood. Other early warning signs are more general and broad such as loss of appetite, fever, weight loss or other flu like symptoms while others may exhibit no early warning signs at all, leaving the ALM to de discovered almost accidentally during a routine doctor’s visit of blood test.
Although the chemotherapy treatment plans which attempt to send AML into remission are very aggressive, the prolonged success rate is still as low as 20-30% and cannot be administered to patients over the age of 60, due to it’s aggressive nature. Stem cell transplant has proven to be the most affective curative measure in the treatment of AML and continues to be the best option available.
