The different types of leukemia

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Leukemia is grouped according to the speed at which the disease develops. Acute leukemia’s develop fast, while chronic leukemia’s develop more slowly. This corresponds with how well the leukemia cells mature. Acute leukemia cells are mostly stuck at the blast stage while most chronic leukemia cells develop into almost normal mature leukocytes. Leukemia is then further divided according to what type of cells the leukemia cells are trying to become. This is either lymphoid (also known as lymphocytic), for cells trying to be lymphocytes, or myeloid (also known as myelogenous or non-lymphocytic), for all the other cell types. This gives us four main groups of leukemia: Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is the commonest leukemia in children, although it also affects adults. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) occurs in both adults and children. This type of leukemia is sometimes called acute non-lymphocytic leukemia (ANLL). AML is further divided according to which type of myeloid cell the blasts show features of trying to become, according to the proportion of mature cells and according to whether or not certain specific abnormalities of chromosomes are present. Of these, acute promyelocytic leukemia is the only one where the treatment is appreciably different. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) mostly affects adults over the age of 55. It sometimes occurs in younger adults, but it almost never affects children. Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) occurs mainly in adults. A very small number of children also develop this disease. This was the first leukemia ever recognized, and gave leukemia its name, from the Greek, "leuk-" (meaning "white") and "-anemia" (meaning "blood"). Literally "white blood", from the thick white layer of leukocytes that can be seen in CML if blood in a tube is allowed to stand. There are several other uncommon types of chronic leukemia (also referred to as chronic lymphoproliferative conditions) such as hairy cell leukemia, prolymphocytic leukemia, adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, Sezary syndrome, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, large granular lymphocyte leukemia, plasma cell leukemia and mast cell leukemia.