After teaching the parents of a child newly diagnosed with leukemia about the disease, which description BEST indicates understanding of the nature of leukemia?

• A. The disease is an infection resulting in increased white blood cell production
• B. The disease is a type of cancer characterized by an increase in immature WBC's
• C. The disease is an inflammation associated with enlargement of the lymph nodes
• D. The disease is an allergic disorder involving increased circulating antibodies in the blood

Answer: (B)

Leukemia is a cancer of the blood-forming tissues in which the bone marrow produces too many abnormal white cells that are immature. These immature white blood cells accumulate in the marrow and bloodstream, crowding out normal cells and leading to symptoms like fatigue from anemia, increased infections, and easy bruising from low platelets. Saying it is a cancer characterized by an increase in immature white blood cells directly reflects both its malignant nature and the abnormal cell development that defines the disease. The other ideas describe different processes: an infection doesn’t cause a malignant rise in immature cells, but rather a normal or reactive increase in mature white cells; enlarged lymph nodes with inflammation points to lymphadenitis or lymphoma rather than leukemia; and allergies involve antibodies but not the uncontrolled, immature white cell proliferation seen in leukemia.