About leukaemia
Leukaemia is cancer of your white blood cells and bone marrow. Bone marrow is the place where blood cells are made in your body. With leukaemia, immature blood cells divide quickly and do not grow into mature cells. These immature cells crowd your bone marrow and prevent it from making normal healthy cells.
Read more about leukaemia and how blood cells are made.
Leukaemia can be divided into two main groups depending on how fast the disease develops: Acute leukaemia develops quickly, whereas chronic leukaemia develops more slowly. The word ‘acute’ does not refer to how successful the treatment will be.
The type of leukaemia also depends on which kind of white blood cell is affected. There are many different types of white blood cells. These include myeloid and lymphoid cells. Myeloid cells develop into red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Lymphoid cells develop into white blood cells called lymphocytes. As a result, there are 4 types of leukaemia:
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a blood cancer more common in people aged over 65.
AML can be treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, targeted therapies and stem cell transplants.
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is a fast-growing type of leukaemia which affects lymphocyte white blood cells.
It is most common in adolescents and young people between the ages of 15 and 25.
Chronic myeloid leukaemia is more common in men than women.
CML is treated with targeted therapies, chemotherapy, steroid therapy and stem cell transplants, depending on the type.
Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia is a slow growing type of leukaemia. Around 200 people in Ireland are diagnosed with CLL each year. It is more common in men than women and is most often diagnosed in people over 55.
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