What is childhood leukaemia?
Leukaemia is a cancer of the white blood cells. All blood cells are made in the bone marrow, the spongy substance at the core of some bones in the body.
Bone marrow contains:
- red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the body
- platelets, which help the blood to clot and control bleeding
- white blood cells, which help fight infection
There are two different types of white blood cells; lymphocytes and myeloid cells (including neutrophils). These white blood cells work together to fight infection. Normally, white blood cells develop, repair and reproduce themselves in an orderly and controlled way. In leukaemia, however, the process gets out of control and the cells continue to divide in the bone marrow, but do not mature.
These immature dividing cells fill up the bone marrow and stop it from making healthy blood cells. As the leukaemia cells are not mature, they cannot work properly. This leads to an increased risk of infection.
Find out more about the two main types of leukaemia:
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in children
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is a type of blood cancer. Around 400 children develop ALL in the UK each year.
Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in children
Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a type of blood cancer. Around 80 children develop AML in the UK each year.
This information is about leukaemia in children, aged 0-14 years.
Find out about leukaemia in teenagers and young adults (15 - 24 years)
