What is AML?
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the blood that starts in the bone marrow and spreads to the bloodstream. It is more common in adults, but each year approximately 500 new cases of AML are diagnosed in children in the United States.
Leukemia begins in the bone marrow. Bone marrow is the spongy tissue located inside the bones, where blood cells are made. Leukemia starts when a single, young white blood cell, called a "blast" develops a series of mistakes or mutations that allow it to multiply uncontrollably. Eventually, the blasts accumulate and crowd out normal cells in the bone marrow. They can also spill out into the bloodstream, and invade the lymph nodes, brain, skin, liver, kidney, ovaries, testes, and other organs. Occasionally they form a solid tumor called a "chloroma."
What are the symptoms of AML?
Leukemia cells "crowd out" the normal blood cells. It is the decrease in normal cells that produces the symptoms of leukemia. The symptoms of AML may mimic common childhood illnesses, such as colds or flu. The symptoms of AML may include:
Fatigue and being pale due to decreased number of red blood cells.
Fever due to the disease itself, or from infection because there are less healthy white blood cells
Bruising or bleeding from decreased platelets
Bone pain, sometimes with swelling joints
What are the normal blood cells in the bone marrow?
Red blood cells: carry oxygen
White blood cells: help fight infection
Platelets: help blood clot
January 2008