What is AML?
Acute Myelogenous Leukemia
AML is a cancer that starts in the cells that are supposed to mature into different types of blood cells. AML starts in the bone marrow (the soft inner part of the bones, where new blood cells are made), but in most cases it quickly moves into the blood. It can sometimes spread to other parts of the body, including the lymph nodes, liver, spleen, central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). In contrast, other types of cancer can start in these organs and then spread to the bone marrow (or other places). Those cancers are not leukemia.
The average age of a patient with AML is about 67. AML is slightly more common among men than among women. There are few known risk factors for AML.
~everydayhealth.com
Anna's first night of chemotherapy.
Approximately 500 children are diagnosed with AML in the United States each year. AML is diagnosed in about 20 percent of children with leukemia. AML is the most common second malignancy (a different or second cancer found in a patient previously treated for cancer) in children treated for malignancies.
~ stjude.org
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
