Acute myeloid leukaemia
Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a cancer of the blood. It can occur at any age but it is rare in children.
The leukaemia is termed ‘acute’ because it develops quickly. When a patient develops AML, too many white blood cells are produced within their bone marrow. These cells, which are known as blast cells, are released into the blood before they have developed properly so they do not behave in the way healthy white blood cells do.
The over-production of blast cells in the bone marrow also means that it is unable to produce the other types of blood cells that are found in the blood. There are various types of AML depending on which type of cell is affected and how well developed the cell is. They are all treated in the same way except for one type called acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL).
The information in the following pages relates to adults with AML.
Symptoms
The signs and symptoms of AML vary from patient to patient. You may experience the following:
- a feeling of exhaustion
- pale skin
- increased bruising of the skin
- fever and infection
- swollen glands
- limb pains.
Many of these symptoms are caused by the increased numbers of abnormal white blood cells and a decrease in the amount of normal blood cells in the blood stream and the bone marrow.
Feeling tired and looking pale is a sign of a lack of red blood cells (anaemia). Bruising of the skin is a sign of a lack of blood cells called platelets.