Childhood Leukemia

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Symptoms
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Prevention and Risk Factors
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Living With
• Related Issues
• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

• No links available

Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Teenagers
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Leukemia is cancer of the white blood cells. It is the most common type of childhood cancer. Your blood cells form in your bone marrow. White blood cells help your body fight infection. In leukemia, the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood cells. These cells crowd out the healthy blood cells, making it hard for blood to do its work.

Leukemia can develop quickly or slowly. Acute leukemia is a fast growing type while chronic leukemia grows slowly. Children with leukemia usually have one of the acute types.

Symptoms include

• Infections
• Fever
• Loss of appetite
• Tiredness
• Easy bruising or bleeding
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Night sweats
• Shortness of breath
• Pain in the bones or joints

Risk factors for childhood leukemia include having a brother or sister with leukemia, having certain genetic disorders and having had radiation or chemotherapy. Treatment often cures childhood leukemia. Treatment options include chemotherapy, other drug therapy and radiation. In some cases bone marrow and blood stem cell transplantation might help.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Start Here

• Childhood Cancer: Leukemia (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• General Information about Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• General Information about Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Other Myeloid Malignancies (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• What Is Childhood Leukemia? (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish

Symptoms

• Signs and Symptoms of Childhood Leukemia (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• BCR ABL Genetic Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Blood Count Tests: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• How Is Childhood Leukemia Classified? (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish
• How Is Childhood Leukemia Diagnosed? (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish
• Pharmacogenetic Tests (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Stages of Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Other Myeloid Malignancies (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• What Are Bone Marrow Tests? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Risk Groups for Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• What Are the Risk Factors for Childhood Leukemia? (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Blood Transfusion (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society)
• Bone Marrow Transplantation: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Immunotherapy (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation)
• Integrative Medicine and Complementary and Alternative Therapies (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) Also in Spanish
• Prognostic Factors in Childhood Leukemia (ALL or AML) (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish
• Treatment of Children with APL (Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia) (American Cancer Society)
• Treatment Option Overview (Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Treatment Option Overview (Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia/Other Myeloid Malignancies) (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Treatment Options for Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Treatment Options for Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Childhood Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia, and Myelodysplastic Syndromes (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish

Living With

• Children with Cancer: A Guide for Parents (National Cancer Institute)
• Coping with Childhood Leukemia and Lymphoma (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) - PDF
• Parents Who Have a Child with Cancer (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Returning to School After Cancer Treatment (American Cancer Society)

Related Issues

• Electromagnetic Fields and Cancer (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Late Effects of Treatment for Childhood Cancer (PDQ) (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation)
• Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML) (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Statistics and Research

• Cancer in Children and Adolescents (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• What Are the Key Statistics for Childhood Leukemia? (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Childhood Leukemia (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Acute GVHD prophylaxis plus ATLG after myeloablative allogeneic haemopoietic peripheral...
• Article: Monitoring of cytomegalovirus infection in non-transplant pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia...
• Article: Facial paralysis as a presenting symptom of infant leukemia: A...
• Childhood Leukemia -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• American Cancer Society
• Find a Cancer Doctor (American Society of Clinical Oncology)
• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
• National Cancer Institute Also in Spanish
• NCI Designated Cancer Centers (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

• Types of Cancer Teens Get (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) -- children (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Bone marrow transplant (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Leukemia (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish