About acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)
Find out about what acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is, where it starts and how common it is.
What is acute myeloid leukaemia
Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a type of blood cancer that starts from young white blood cells called granulocytes or monocytes in the bone marrow. The bone marrow is the soft inner part of the bones, where new blood cells are made.
How common it is
Acute myeloid leukaemia is rare. In the UK, around 3,100 people are diagnosed each year with acute myeloid leukaemia.
Who gets it
It can occur in adults or children. It is most often diagnosed in older people, and is most common in people over 65 years old.
What happens in AML
The word acute means that the leukaemia can develop fairly quickly. The bone marrow produces white blood cells called granulocytes or monocytes too quickly because they grow and divide too fast. These abnormal cells build up in the blood and bone marrow.
The leukaemic cells can eventually spread to other parts of the body including the lymph nodes and the spleen.
If it wasn’t treated the leukaemia would cause death within a few weeks or months. But treatments work very well for most people with AML.
Blood cells and leukaemia
To understand how and why leukaemia affects you as it does, it helps to know how you make blood cells.
Your body makes blood cells in the bone marrow. The bone marrow is the soft inner part of your bones. You make blood cells in a controlled way, as your body needs them.
All blood cells start as the same type of cell, called a stem cell. This stem cell then develops into:
- myeloid stem cells, which become white blood cells called monocytes and granulocytes (neutrophils)
- lymphoid stem cells, which become white blood cells called lymphocytes
- erythroblasts, which become red blood cells
- megakaryocytes, which become platelets
This diagram helps explain this
In acute myeloid leukaemia, the bone marrow makes too many monocytes or granulocytes. These cells are not fully developed and are not able to work normally.
How leukaemia affects you
You are more likely to get infections and to find it hard to get over the infections. This is because healthy white blood cells help fight infection. But when you have leukaemia, your body makes abnormal white blood cells and they don’t work properly.
Too many white blood cells can overcrowd the bone marrow. So there is not enough space for other types of blood cells. Then you might have lower than normal levels of red blood cells and platelets.
Having too few red blood cells makes you tired and breathless (anaemic). And if you don’t have enough platelets, you can have bleeding problems, such as bruising or nosebleeds.
Abnormal white blood cells can also build up in other parts of the body, such as the spleen and lymph nodes, or the liver. This can make your tummy (abdomen) swell and feel uncomfortable. The leukaemia cells can also spread to the brain in some people.