Lecturer
Acute leukemia
Defined as the presence of over 20% of blast cells in the blood or bone marrow. It is subdivided into acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) on the basis of whether the blasts are myeloblasts or lymphoblasts
Acute leukemias are usually aggressive diseases in which malignant transformation occurs in the hemopoietic stem cell or early progenitors, by successive divisions.
Genetic damage is believed to involve several key biochemical steps resulting in (1) an increased rate of proliferation (2) reduced apoptosis and (3) a block in cellular differentiation.
If untreated, these diseases usually rapidly fatal but , they are also easier to cure than chronic leukemias.
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