Leukemia
What is Leukemia?
- Leukemia is a general name for cancers of blood cells. It starts at the blood-forming tissues and spread through blood
Statistics about Leukemia
- According to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society, a person gets diagnosed with blood cancer (Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma) every 3 minuets in the US.
- Almost 10% of new cancer diagnoses are the diagnosis for blood cancer.
- Approximately 370,000 people are getting treated or are in remission from Leukemia.
- Leukemia was the sixth most cause of cancer deaths for al genders between the years 2012 to 2016.
- Almost 25% of cancer diagnoses for people under 20 were for Leukemia between the years 2012 to 2016.
- Leukemia is the second leading cause of cancer death for people under 20 years old.
There are different types of Leukemia
- The class is determined by the type of blood cell involved (lymphatic or myeloid) and its speed of development (acute or chronic).
- Lymphocytic leukemia => starts in lymphoid cells that can become B cells, T cells, or natural killer cells.
- Myeloid leukemia => starts in myeloid cells that can become white blood cells, red blood cells or platelets
- Acute leukemia => bone marrow cells function abnormally and grow rapidly
- Chronic leukemia => bone marrow cells have some function and grow slower
