What is it?
Leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow, the lymph system and other blood-forming tissues. In a healthy body, normal white blood cells fight infections. With leukemia, the bone marrow produces a large number of abnormal white blood cells. As the abnormal cells accumulate, they block production of the normal white blood cells, making it difficult for a person to fight infection. As leukemia progresses, it interferes with the body's production of other types of blood cells, including red blood cells and platelets.

Acute childhood leukemia appears in different forms, depending on whether specific white blood cells called lymphocytes, linked to immune defenses, are involved.

Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) Approximately 60% of children with leukemia have this form of the disease.

Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) About 38% of children with leukemia have this form.

Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) This slow-growing cancer may also be seen in children, but it is very rare. accounting for fewer than 50 cases of childhood leukemia each year in the United States.

As a group, leukemia accounts for about 25% of all childhood cancers and affect about 2,200 American young people each year. Fortunately, the chances for a cure are very good with pediatric leukemia.

What we’re doing about it
We actively support the UCSF Program in Children’s Cancer under the direction of Kevin Shannon, MD. Dr. Shannon’s research focuses on the molecular factors that cause leukemia in children.

See Best of the West for our Doctor and Program recommendations.