Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive cancer of the blood and bone marrow. AML accounts for approximately 20% of acute leukemia in children and 80% of acute leukemia in adults. The risk of developing AML increases with age. The symptoms of AML usually develop over a few weeks and become worse over time. These includes feeling tired or weak, breathlessness, frequent infections, bruising or bleeding, such as bleeding gums or nosebleeds and losing weight. It’s not clear exactly what causes AML and, in most cases, there is no identifiable cause. But some things can increase your risk of getting AML, including previous chemotherapy or radiotherapy, exposure to very high levels of radiation, smoking and other exposure to some chemicals like benzene.
Initial diagnosis can be done by a small blood test called complete blood test (CBC) which shows a high number of abnormal white blood cells, or a very low hemoglobin and platelets. If this is the case, you will be urgently referred to a specialist in treating blood conditions (haematologist).
To confirm a diagnosis of AML, a small sample of patient’s bone marrow will be taken to examine under a microscope. This procedure is known as a bone marrow examination. This procedure takes around 10 minutes and you can get the report on the same day. Other ancillary tests like flow cytometry and genetic tests can be carried out on blood and bone marrow samples to get confirmation and risk stratification of the disease. AML is an aggressive cancer that grows quickly, so treatment will usually begin a few days after the diagnosis. Treatment is mainly depends on the age, clinical condition of the patient and genetic risk stratification. Most of the low risk AML’s can be treated with chemotherapy alone, but a high risk case needs bone marrow transplantation.
Bone marrow transplantation (also called Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation) is the latest advance in the treatment of acute leukemia which can cure the disease in some patients.