About Leukemia: ALL

ALL is most common among young children – usually around the age of 2 or 3. 78% of the children under 14 are diagnosed with this disease, so it is the most common kind of leukemia in children. 6 out of 100,000 people are diagnosed with ALL. This particular kind of leukemia is more common in boys than in girls. 85% of the children diagnosed with this leave at least 5 years after diagnosis.

So, you may ask, what is the difference between ALL and the other kind of childhood leukemia, AML? ALL develops in the lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are in many places throughout your body, including, but not limited to, bone marrow, the spleen, and the lymph nodes. There are two types of lymphocytes: B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes.

B lymphocytes help protect your body against germs. They form into plasma cells and then these plasma cells link onto germs. This helps another part of your body, the granulocytes, to recognize the germ and destroy it. T lymphocytes also help keep your body healthy. They have the ability to recognize cells with viruses, and destroy them at immediately.

ALL can develop from either of these types of lymphocytes. This cancer develops in the bone marrow, where lymphocytes are often present.

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