Hi ,

Was just wondering if anyone has any experiences or any information about this?  A friend was diagnosed with it late last year and I wanted to know as much about it as i could.

Have looked on some websites but don't always understand the technical terms etc.

Thanks , Kate

Hi Kate,
My husband has recently been diagnosed with this. We moved house and changed doctors and it was picked up from a routine blood test,so we don't know how long he has had it. He was called back 3 times for repeat blood tests and finally was told he had too many white blood cells and they thought it was CLL.he has since been to see a consultant and had a chest x ray and an ultrasound scan to check his lymphs.he has to go for blood tests every 3 months,but it is low grade and is a slow developing form of leukaemia,taking 10 or 12 years before it gets to the stage where treatment will be required.If he shows any signs of an increase in the white blood cells they will start treatment which is usually chemo in tablet form.The consultant told him they are making strides forward in treatment all the time and prob in 10 years they will be able to cure it.
Apparantly the white blood cells which come out to fight infection dont die off as quickly as normal,and build up in the blood.They can overtake the red blood cells,causing anaemia and tiredness and swollen lymph glands. Sometimes they take a sample of bone marrow to check the extent of the leukaemia,and in more advanced cases they sometimes remove the spleen. He has been reassured that,at the moment,all he needs are 3 monthly blood tests to check the amount of white cells.Because these rogue cells are produced by your own immune system,your body accepts them,and I believe scientists are working on removing these cells,altering some component and putting them back in,and because they have been introduced,the immune system rejects them,and will continue to fight them off. The consultant asked if they could use his blood for research,and told him about this work being done. he also said that as he had no symptoms and it only showed up in a routine blood test,they can't tell how long he has had it,so we will just keep our fingers crossed that it has just developed and doesnt get any worse.It is most common in people over 60 and with the 10 or 12 years it normally takes to require treatment,he said most people die of something else.
Hope that helps.
My husband is 68 and still working and has absolutely no symptoms at all,and apart from the 3 monthly blood tests,he is as happy and healthy as he has always been.
If you need to know any more just let me know as we have done a bit of research in to it,and the consultant at the hospital explained it very well to us.
Cheers,
Jean

I'm sorry your friend is going through this Kate. I've found the National Cancer Institute website is very good at explaining all types of cancer in a very understandable way. If you follow the link to the online booklet you can learn about the basics. There are also links specifically for CLL.