Follow on Twitter Follow on Facebook
Symptom Search   |   Treatment Search   |   Doctor Search   |   Drug Search
Related Health Channels Leukemia Cancer
Advertisement

Childhood ALL Health Channel

Feature Article

Illustrations for this article

Click on an image below to enlarge

Bone marrow aspiration
Acute lymphocytic leukemia - photomicrograph

Show all 5 photos

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL)

Definition

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is a fast-growing cancer in which the body produces a large number of immature white blood cells (lymphocytes). These cells are found in the blood, bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen, and other organs.

Alternative Names

ALL; Acute childhood leukemia; Cancer - acute childhood leukemia (ALL); Leukemia - acute childhood (ALL)

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

ALL makes up 80% of childhood acute leukemias. Most cases occur in children ages 3 - 7. The disease may also occur in adults.

In acute leukemia, cancerous cells multiply quickly and replace normal cells. Cancerous cells take over normal parts of the bone marrow, causing bone marrow failure. A person with ALL is more likely to bleed and have infections because there are fewer normal blood cells.

Most cases of ALL have no obvious cause. However, the following may play a role in the development of leukemia:

Persons with Down syndrome or who have a brother or sister with leukemia are at increased risk for ALL.

Symptoms

Signs and tests

A physical exam may reveal the following:

Blood tests may show the following:

A bone marrow aspiration will show abnormal levels of certain cells.

ALL may also change the results of the following tests:

If you are diagnosed with ALL, genetic tests will be done to determine the specific type of ALL. Doctors can look for chromosome changes in the cells of some leukemias. Leukemias with certain types of chromosome changes have a poor outlook, while those with other types of genes can have a very good outlook. This may determine what kind of therapy is used to treat the ALL.

Continue reading this article

More Articles

Leukemia (4 Videos, 9 Images) (Doctor-Reviewed information)
Leukemia is a group of bone marrow diseases involving an uncontrolled increase in white blood cells (leukocytes. For information about a specific type of leukemia, see the following: Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL; Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML...Reviewer: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc. Date: 03/02/2009
Email

T-cell count (2 Images) (Doctor-Reviewed information)
T cells are a type of white blood cells (lymphocytes. They make up part of the immune system. T cells help the body fight diseases or harmful substances. A test can be done to measure the number of T cells in your blood.Reviewer: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc. Date: 08/01/2009
Email

Chemotherapy (11 Videos, 3 Images) (Doctor-Reviewed information)
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill bacteria, viruses, fungi, and cancer cells. Most commonly, the term is used to refer to cancer-killing drugs. This article focuses on cancer chemotherapy.Reviewer: James R. Mason, MD, Oncologist, Director, Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program and Stem Cell Processing Lab, Scripps Clinic, Torrey Pines, California. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.Date: 09/30/2008
Email

Leukemia - resources (1 Image) (Doctor-Reviewed information)
The following organizations provide information on leukemia: National Cancer Institute - www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/leukemia; The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society - www.leukemia.org. Reviewer: Jennifer K. Mannheim, CRNP, private practice, Seattle, Washington. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.Date: 10/18/2008
Email

Use Healthline to search the web for more Childhood ALL information.