Kaasukemia

Kaasukemia is a fictional hematologic disorder described in speculative fiction and tabletop role-playing materials. It is presented as a clonal proliferation of abnormal blood cell precursors linked to chronic exposure to industrial gases, with the name combining kaasu (gas) and leukemia to reflect its proposed cause.

In the fictional concept, kaasukemia can affect either the myeloid or lymphoid lineages, though many depictions emphasize a myeloid-dominant process. Symptoms mirror those of real leukemias and may include fatigue, pallor, recurrent infections, easy bruising, fever, night sweats, and abdominal fullness from spleen or liver enlargement. Acute forms show rapid onset anemia and thrombocytopenia with circulating blasts; chronic forms progress more slowly with insidious cytopenias and organomegaly.

The proposed pathophysiology describes genetic alterations in hematopoietic stem cells that drive malignant proliferation and block normal differentiation. Environmental factors—specifically oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling from prolonged gas exposure—are depicted as selecting for malignant clones. Mutations may involve pathways governing cell growth and survival, such as JAK-STAT or RAS, though fictional sources vary.

Diagnosis in the narrative typically relies on blood tests revealing abnormal counts and blasts, peripheral smear findings, and bone marrow biopsy showing hypercellularity with dysplasia. Additional testing, including flow cytometry and genetic sequencing, identifies lineage markers and assumed driving mutations, while imaging detects organomegaly.

Treatment in fictional settings combines removal or reduction of gas exposure with supportive care, cytoreductive therapy, and, when described, targeted agents or stem cell transplantation. Prognosis is narrative-dependent, influenced by the form of kaasukemia, extent of exposure, and access to fictional treatments.

Kaasukemia is not a real-world medical diagnosis and is used as a narrative device to explore occupational hazards and hematologic malignancies in speculative contexts.