Myelogenous Leukaemia

Note: The information on cancer types on the ACRF website is not designed to provide medical or professional advice and is for information only. If you have any health problems or questions please consult your doctor.

Overview

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), also called myelogenous leukaemia, is the most common leukaemia in adults.

AML can occur at any age but is more common in adults over the age of 60 years.

Around 50 children (0-14 years) are diagnosed with AML in Australia each year. It occurs more frequently in males than in females.

The disease involves the rapid multiplication of abnormal cells in the bone marrow, which will kill the person rapidly from infection and bleeding if it is not treated quickly.

Around 700 people are diagnosed with AML every year in Australia.

Overall AML is a rare disease, accounting for 0.8 per cent of all cancers diagnosed.

Treatment

The main treatments are antibiotics for the infection, chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants. Younger people (30% survival) do better than older ones (10% survival) but overall, 5 year survival rates are poor.

The reason treatments are thought to fail is that the leukaemic cancer initiating cells are resistant to chemotherapy.