ON THIS PAGE: You will learn about the factors that doctors use to describe this type of cancer. This is called classification. Use the menu on the side of your screen.

There is no staging system for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), unlike some other types of cancer. However, there are a number of factors that help doctors choose the best treatment plan and predict the chance that the disease will come back after treatment. Doctors plan each child’s treatment based on these and other factors:

ON THIS PAGE: You will find some basic information about this disease and the parts of the body it may affect. This is the first page of Cancer.Net’s Guide to Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Use the menu to see other pages. Think of that menu as a roadmap for this entire guide.

ON THIS PAGE: You will learn about how doctors describe AML. This is called the subtype. Use the menu to see other pages.

There are different ways to classify the subtypes of AML. Although all subtypes cause decreases in normal blood cell levels, different types of AML are associated with specific symptoms and problems. In addition, each subtype can behave differently after treatment.

ON THIS PAGE: You will find some basic information about this disease and the parts of the body it may affect. This is the first page of Cancer.Net’s Guide to Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Use the menu to see other pages. Think of that menu as a roadmap for this entire guide.

Editorial Note: Please note that this section is currently under review and will be updated soon.

ON THIS PAGE: You will find some basic information about this disease and the parts of the body it may affect. This is the first page of Cancer.Net’s Guide to Eosinophilic Leukemia. Use the menu to see other pages. Think of that menu as a roadmap for this complete guide.

Leukemia is a cancer of the blood cells. Leukemia begins when healthy blood cells change and grow out of control.

Editorial Note: Please note that this section is currently under review and will be updated soon.

ON THIS PAGE: You will find some basic information about this disease and the parts of the body it may affect. This is the first page of Cancer.Net’s Guide to Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. Use the menu to see other pages. Think of that menu as a roadmap for this complete guide.

Editorial Note: Please note that this section is currently under review and will be updated soon.

ON THIS PAGE: You will find some basic information about this disease and the parts of the body it may affect. This is the first page of Cancer.Net’s Guide to Adult Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. Use the menu to see other pages. Think of that menu as a roadmap for this complete guide.

ON THIS PAGE: You will learn about how doctors describe the growth or spread of CML. This is called the phase. Use the menu to see other pages.

To help doctors plan treatment and predict prognosis, which is the chance of recovery, CML is divided into 3 different phases: chronic, accelerated, or blast.

ON THIS PAGE: You will learn about how doctors describe ALL. This is called subtype and classification. Use the menu to see other pages.

Doctors divide ALL into subtypes and classify the disease based on the type of lymphocytes that are affected. For example, flow cytometry (see Diagnosis) distinguishes between ALL involving T cells or B cells. Specific chromosomal or genetic changes in the cancer cells are used to help plan treatment and predict prognosis.

Subtypes include:

• Precursor B-cell ALL