Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia

Also called: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, ALL

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Leukemia is cancer of the white blood cells. White blood cells help your body fight infection. Your blood
cells form in your bone marrow. In leukemia, however, the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood
cells. These cells crowd out the healthy blood cells, making it hard for blood to do its work. In acute
lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), also called acute lymphoblastic leukemia, there are too many of specific
types of white blood cells called lymphocytes or lymphoblasts. ALL is the most common type of cancer
in children.
Possible risk factors for ALL include being male, being white, previous chemotherapy treatment, exposure
to radiation, and for adults, being older than 70.
Symptoms of ALL include:
Weakness or feeling tired
Fever
Easy bruising or bleeding
Bleeding under the skin
Shortness of breath
Weight loss or loss of appetite
Pain in the bones or stomach
Pain or a feeling of fullness below the ribs
Painless lumps in the neck, underarm, stomach, or groin
Tests that examine the blood and bone marrow diagnose ALL. Treatments include chemotherapy,
radiation therapy, stem cell transplants, and targeted immune therapy. Once the leukemia is in remission,
you need additional treatment to make sure that it does not come back.
NIH: National Cancer Institute

Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Also called: Acute myelogenous leukemia, AML, ANLL
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Leukemia is cancer of the white blood cells. White blood cells help your body fight infection. Your blood
cells form in your bone marrow. In leukemia, however, the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood
cells. These cells crowd out the healthy blood cells, making it hard for blood to do its work. In acute
myeloid leukemia (AML), there are too many of a specific type of white blood cell called a myeloblast.
AML is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults. This type of cancer usually gets worse quickly
if it is not treated. Possible risk factors include smoking, previous chemotherapy treatment, and exposure
to radiation.
Symptoms of AML include:
Fever
Shortness of breath
Easy bruising or bleeding
Bleeding under the skin
Weakness or feeling tired
Weight loss or loss of appetite

Tests that examine the blood and bone marrow diagnose AML. Treatments include chemotherapy, other
drugs, radiation therapy, stem cell transplants, and targeted immune therapy. Once the leukemia is in
remission, you need additional treatment to make sure that it does not come back.
NIH: National Cancer Institute

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Also called: CLL
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Leukemia is cancer of the white blood cells. White blood cells help your body fight infection. Your blood
cells form in your bone marrow. In leukemia, the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood cells.
These cells crowd out the healthy blood cells, making it hard for blood to do its work. In chronic
lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), there are too many lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell.
CLL is the second most common type of leukemia in adults. It often occurs during or after middle age,
and is rare in children.
Usually CLL does not cause any symptoms. If you have symptoms, they may include
Painless swelling of the lymph nodes in the neck, underarm, stomach, or groin
Fatigue
Pain or a feeling of fullness below the ribs
Fever and infection
Weight loss
Tests that examine the blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes diagnose CLL. Your doctor may choose to
just monitor you until symptoms appear or change. Treatments include radiation therapy, chemotherapy,
surgery to remove the spleen, and targeted therapy. Targeted therapy uses substances that attack cancer
cells without harming normal cells.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

Also called: Chronic granulocytic leukemia, Chronic myelogenous leukemia, CML
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Leukemia is cancer of the white blood cells. White blood cells help your body fight infection. Your blood
cells form in your bone marrow. In leukemia, the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood cells.
These cells crowd out the healthy blood cells, making it hard for blood to do its work. In chronic myeloid
leukemia (CML), there are too many granulocytes, a type of white blood cell.
Most people with CML have a gene mutation (change) called the Philadelphia chromosome.
Sometimes CML does not cause any symptoms. If you have symptoms, they may include:
Fatigue
Weight loss
Night sweats
Fever
Pain or a feeling of fullness below the ribs on the left side
Tests that examine the blood and bone marrow diagnose CML. Treatments include chemotherapy, stem
cell transplants, infusion of donated white blood cells following stem cell transplants, surgery to remove

the spleen, and biologic and targeted therapies. Biologic therapy boosts your body's own ability to fight
cancer. Targeted therapy uses substances that attack cancer cells without harming normal cells.
NIH: National Cancer Institute