Key Statistics for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) (2024)

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Key Statistics for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)? ›

How common is acute myeloid leukemia? Acute myeloid leukemia affects about 4 in 100,000 adults annually. Each year about 1,160 children receive an AML diagnosis.

How common is acute myeloid leukemia? Acute myeloid leukemia affects about 4 in 100,000 adults annually. Each year about 1,160 children receive an AML diagnosis.

Approximately 60% to 70% of adults with AML can be expected to attain CR status after appropriate induction therapy. More than 25% of adults with AML (about 45% of those who attain CR) can be expected to survive 3 or more years and may be cured.

The five-year survival rate for adults with AML in the U.S. is 29.5%. For children and adolescents aged 19 or younger, the five-year survival rate is 66%.

About 1 person in 526 will get CML in their lifetime in the United States. The average age at diagnosis of CML is around 64 years. Almost half of cases are diagnosed in people 65 and older. This type of leukemia mainly affects adults, and is rarely seen in children.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is one of the hardest-to-treat blood cancers. And though it's possible to achieve remission with drugs that target and destroy the stem cells that give rise to leukemia, the disease usually returns with deadly consequences.

AML is one of the most common kinds of blood cancers, but still a rare disease and accounts for only one percent of all cancers. Only about 4.3 persons in every 100,000 will develop AML in their lifetimes. The exact cause of AML is unknown, but its development is a result of DNA changes in normal bone marrow cells.

Generally for all people with AML: more than 15 out of 100 people (more than 15%) will survive their leukaemia for 5 years or more after being diagnosed.

As AML progresses towards the final stages, patients may experience constant coldness, paleness, fatigue, and drowsiness. They may also begin to lose control of their bladder and bowel function. In some rare cases, the blood can become too thick due to the presence of too many cancerous cells.

Chronic leukemia progresses more slowly and results in the accumulation of relatively mature, but still abnormal, white blood cells. It tends to take longer to start causing noticeable problems than acute leukemia. However, chronic, slower-growing leukemia may be more difficult to treat.

Is AML considered a terminal illness? ›

This will depend on the individual, but doctors usually diagnose end stage AML when a person is unlikely to survive more than another 12 months. Research suggests an older adult can expect to live another 1–2 months on average when AML no longer responds to treatment.

Share on Pinterest Some forms of AML are more aggressive than others. Cancer develops when certain cells in the body reproduce without the usual controlling factors. AML involves the body producing too many nonfunctioning, immature white blood cells. These are called blasts.

Weakened immune system

Complications arising from infection are the leading cause of death in people with AML.

Net survival

This means that, on average, about 23% of people diagnosed with AML will live for at least 5 years.

About 2 out of 3 people with AML who get standard induction chemotherapy (chemo) go into remission. This usually means the bone marrow contains fewer than 5% blast cells, the blood cell counts return to within normal limits, and there are no signs or symptoms of the leukemia.

Today, the ten year survival rate for the most common form of CML is approximately 85% and patients can expect to live life-spans nearly as long as normal healthy adults. Early support from LLS that has led to the development of imatinib made this happen. Are you a Patient or Caregiver?

People who've had certain types of chemotherapy and radiation therapy may have a greater risk of developing AML . Exposure to radiation. People exposed to very high levels of radiation, such as survivors of a nuclear reactor accident, have an increased risk of developing AML .

Older AML patients are more likely to have chromosomal abnormalities in their cancer cells that indicate a worse prognosis. They may also not be able to tolerate the most aggressive treatments that have a better chance of leading to remission.

Despite the fact that AML is a rare cancer, occurring in about 20,000 new patients in the US per year, it represents approximately 10% of all new cases of blood cancer per year and 30% of all leukemias. Moreover, deaths due to AML is about 10,000 cases per year in the US, or 20% of all blood cancers.