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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffLeukemia is cancer of the body's blood-forming tissues, including the bone marrow and the lymphatic system.
Many types of leukemia exist. Some forms of leukemia are most common in children. Other forms of leukemia occur mostly in adults.
Leukemia usually starts in the white blood cells. Your white blood cells are potent infection fighters — they normally grow and divide in an orderly way, as your body needs them. But in people with leukemia, the bone marrow produces a large number of abnormal white blood cells, which don't function properly.
Treatment for leukemia can be complex — depending on the type of leukemia and other factors. But there are strategies and resources that can help to make your treatment successful.
- What you need to know about leukemia. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/leukemia/allpages. Accessed Feb. 17, 2010.
- Leukemia. Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/all_page?item_id=7026&viewmode=print. Accessed Feb. 17, 2010.
- SEER stat fact sheets: Acute lymphocytic leukemia. Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results. http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/alyl.html. Accessed Feb. 23, 2010.
- SEER stat facts sheets: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results. http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/clyl.html. Feb. 23, 2010.
- SEER stat facts sheets: Acute myeloid leukemia. Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results. http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/amyl.html. Feb. 23, 2010.
- SEER stat facts sheets: Chronic myeloid leukemia. Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results. http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/cmyl.html. Feb. 23, 2010.
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