Report on Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

Running Head: ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA 1
Acute Myeloid Leukemia
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Table of Contents

ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA 2
Acute Myeloid Leukemia..............................................................................................................1
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Prevalence and Life Expectancy......................................................................................................1
Signs and Symptoms........................................................................................................................1
Causes and Risk Factors..................................................................................................................2
Diagnosis.........................................................................................................................................2
Treatment.........................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................3
References........................................................................................................................................3
Introduction
Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is one of the cancers that affect the blood. According to
Döhner, Weisdorf, & Bloomfield (2015), cancer starts typically to form in the cells that develop

ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA 3
into white blood cells. However, in some cases, it might begin by attacking the cells that are
responsible for the formation of blood. AML begins in the bone marrow, which is the soft inner
part of the bones and later spreads into the blood and other parts of the body such as the spleen,
liver, lymph nodes, testicles, and the central nervous system thus affecting the spinal cord and
brain. With AML, the cells are unable to develop the way in their normal way, and the immature
cells, which are commonly referred to as blast cells, continue to build up. The term Acute
signifies the fast progression of the disease, which shows that it is actually dangerous. AML,
therefore, involves the fast growth of myeloid cells, thus affecting the overall immune system.
Based on Checkoway et al. (2015), the disease affects both adults and children, where about
19,500 people are affected by AML annually in the United States.
Prevalence and Life Expectancy
The survival rate among AML patients in a period of 5 years is only about 27.4% in the
US, and out of the 19,500 people affected by AML, about 10670 deaths take place annually due
to the disease (Checkoway et al., 2015). Every patient of AML is different, and the severity of
the diseases is mainly dependent on several things, which include the response of cancer to
treatment. People have better chances of beating the cancer or living for a longer life span if they
are below sixty years, have lower count of white blood cells when they are diagnosed with the
illness, have no history of cancers or blood diseases in their family and are free from specific
chromosome changes and genetic mutations that facilitates its prevalence.
Signs and Symptoms