What is Leukemia?

Leukemia is a malignant disease (cancer) of the bone marrow and blood. There are 4 major forms of leukemia: ALL, CLL, AML and CML. AML results from acquired (not inherited) genetic damage to the DNA of developing cells in the bone marrow. The effects are (1) the uncontrolled, exaggerated growth and accumulation of cells called leukemic blasts, which fail to function as normal blood cells and (2) the blockade of the production of normal bone marrow cells, leading to a deficiency of red cells, platelets and normal white blood cells in the blood.