Childhood Leukemia

Synonyms

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL); Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML); Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL); Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL); Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML); Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML); Mixed lineage leukemia

Definition

Leukemia is a progressive cancer of bone marrow and other blood-forming organs, in which abnormal leukocytes are produced and spread to other organs of the body.

Description

Leukemia, one of the most common forms of cancer in children, can appear as soon as the age of one or as late as the early teen years. While childhood leukemia is considered to be a rare disease, it accounts for 33% of all childhood cancers. Approximately one in one thousand children will be diagnosed with leukemia by the age of 19 but it is more common in children under the age of ten. The American Cancer Society projects that three out of four children diagnosed with leukemia will have acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). Most of the