Types of leukaemia
Due to its specific characteristics leukaemia is classified under the following denominations:
1. The speed of progress of the disease (acute/chronic).
2. The type of blood cell affected (myeloid/lymphoid).
3. The age of the patient (child/adult).
In relation to the speed of development, leukaemia is classified as either acute or chronic. In acute leukaemia, the abnormal blood cells are very immature cells (blast cells) and they cannot develop into their normal functions. The number of blast cells grows rapidly, which causes the process to worsen very quickly and produce multiple symptoms.
In chronic leukaemia the presence of blast cells is also detected, but normally they are more mature and they can perform some of their normal functions. In addition, the number of blast cells grows at a slower rate than in acute leukaemia, therefore the evolution of the disease is slower and symptoms can take a long time to materialize.
Leukaemia can affect one of the two main types of white blood cells: the lymphoid cells or the myeloid cells. When the lymphoid cells are affected, the disorder is called lymphoid or lymphoblastic leukaemia. When the myeloid cells are affected, the disease is called myeloblastic leukaemia.
The division between children, adolescents and adults is of great relevance and has implications for the prognostics and treatments.
To summarize, we can distinguish between 5 main groups of leukaemia:
For more information:
• Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in Adults (ALL)
• Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in paediatric patients (ALL)
• Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML)
• Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL)
• Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML)
For more information, you can consult the following webpages:
• National Cancer Institute
• Fundación Leucemia y Linfoma
• Medical Medline Plus Encyclopedia
• The Leukaemia & Lymphoma Society
