 | People of all ages develop leukaemia and the related cancers of the blood though generally speaking the older we are the greater the chance of the disease occurring. Leukaemia is a form of cancer and is caused by the uncontrolled growth of blood cells. This happens when the genes that govern cell life become damaged and no longer properly control cell growth and death. The older we become, the greater the chance of accumulated gene damage likely to spark cancer.
There are exceptions to this rule. A small number of children every year develop leukaemia, lymphoma and the related blood disorders. The incidence of a form of Hodgkin’s disease peaks in young adults. Cancer in the under 15s accounts for less than one per cent of all malignancies diagnosed each year in developed countries. In the UK, 1,200 children are diagnosed with cancer every year (one in 9,000). About 40% of these are blood cancers, the most common of which is acute leukaemia. Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) makes up about 85% of all childhood leukaemias in the UK. Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) accounts for most of the rest. Around 80% of children with ALL now survive their disease. Between 12-15 children a year are diagnosed with myelodysplasia, accounting for about 3% of all childhood blood cancers. A handful of children also develop chronic myeloid leukaemia.
24,500 people in Britain every year are diagnosed with a cancer of the blood. The figures break down as follows:
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