Acute Myelocytic Leukemia

Acute myelocytic leukemia, also known as AML, acute myelogenous leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia and acute myeloblastic leukemia, is cancer of the blood cells. The cancer effects the blood cells known as the granulocytes and monocytes.

Risk factors for getting AML:

* Radiation from cancer treatment

* Some types of chemotherapy

* Down syndrome

* Tobacco smoke

* Exposure to large amounts of benzene


Eight thousand cases of acute myelocytic leukemia are diagnosed in the US each year. Most of these cases are adults over 50. About 500 cases are children (about 20 percent of all childhood leukemia cases).

There are eight different subtypes of AML (M0 to M7). Doctors examine the AML cells in bone marrow and blood to determine the subtype.

The symptoms of AML are the same as ALL (acute lymphocytic leukemia).

Prognosis

Prognosis can be a scary word. I personally would rather rely on faith than on the numbers. I will share with you the some statistics but don't forget that miracles do happen. So no matter what the numbers or doctors say, God heals.

The prognosis of AML depends on:

* The patient's age
* general health
* white blood cell count at diagnosis
* Whether the AML was caused by previous cancer treatment
* AML subtype
* How well the leukemia responds to initial treatment
* Whether the AML has recurred after treatment
* Whether there is a blood disorder (myelodysplastic syndrome)
* Whether the leukemia has spread to the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) or to other parts of the body.

Over eighty percent of children who receive optimal treatment achieve a complete remission and stay in remission for five years , which is considered that they are cured.



A strong predictor of how someone will respond to treatment is the white blood count at time of diagnosis. If the white blood count is over 100,000 per cubic milliliter at diagnosis then they tend to not respond as well as someone with lower counts.

Factors that may cause reaching remission difficult are:

* Secondary AML (results after treatment for a different cancer)

* Monosomy 7 chromosome abnormality

* M4 and M5 subtypes

* CNS disease

Factors that make achieving remission highly likely:

* Quick response to treatment

* Down syndrome

* Certain leukemia cell chromosomal abnormalities

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