Acute leukemia can occur over a short period of days to weeks. Acute myelogenous leukemia is a cancer of the blood in which too many granulocytes, a type of white blood cell, are produced in the marrow. The granulocytes normally fight infection. With acute myelogenous leukemia, the bone marrow makes too many of these cells and they do not mature correctly. The granulocytes overproduce, thus, crowding out other blood cells.
Acute leukemia can occur over a short period of days to weeks.
Children with certain genetic syndromes, including Fanconi anemia, Bloom syndrome, Kostmann syndrome, and Down syndrome, are at a higher risk of developing AML than other children. Chronic myeloblastic leukemia is cancer of the blood in which too many granulocytes, a type of white blood cell, are produced in the marrow. The granulocytes normally fight infection. With this disease, the bone marrow makes too many of these cells and they do not mature correctly. The marrow continues to produce these abnormal cells which crowd out other healthy blood cells.