The Italian politician Silvio Berlusconi suffers from chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, as reported by the hospital where he remains hospitalized. According to a statement issued by the hospital, the disease suffered by the former president is in a "chronic" phase and there is no evolutionary traits to acute leukemia.
According to the American Leukemia and Lymphoma Association, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia is a clonal hematologic disease, in which a group of identical cells, with a common ancestry, multiply uncontrollably. In chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, the change affects the normal development of a type of white blood cell called a "monocyte." The disorder is part of the so-called myeloproliferative neoplasms.
It is common for the disorder to cause weakness and fatigue; petechiae) (pinhead-sized red dots on the skin), bruising and bleeding, frequent infections; enlargement of the spleen and liver and a feeling of fullness below the ribs due to an enlarged spleen.
According to data from the Spanish Group of Myelodysplastic Syndromes (GESMD), there are few epidemiological studies on this disease, but it seems to predominate in men and to be diagnosed between the ages of 65 and 75, with an incidence of around 1 case per 100,000 inhabitants per year (405). , 406). This incidence increases to 2.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year in people over 70 years of age (407).
There is no laboratory test to diagnose the disorder. Normally, to confirm the existence of the disorder, the patient must be followed up, a study of peripheral blood monocytes performed by flow cytometry and the results evaluated to rule out other forms of myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative neoplasms.
Therapeutic options in LMMC are scarce. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only curative option, although rarely applicable because most patients with the disorder are elderly. Thus, most patients either do not receive treatment, or receive supportive treatment, hydroxyurea, or hypomethylants. According to the GESMD data, survival is variable; some patients have an indolent course but 20-40% of cases usually transform into acute myeloid leukemia (AML) within 5 years.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
