Childhood AML (acute myeloid leukaemia)

There is information on this page about

• Making sense of it all
• Symptoms and diagnosis
• Causes

Trying to make sense of why children die from any type of cancer is extremely difficult, especially when it happens so soon after diagnosis. Unfortunately, many questions do not have definite answers, which can make it even harder for parents to understand. Most children are cured these days but in some ways that can make it even harder for the families of children who do die to come to terms with it.

It would be very difficult for a doctor to know how long your friends daughter may have had AML before she was diagnosed. There are no tests available that can pick it up early. Many symptoms are vague. Children can feel as if they have a bad cold and seem a bit 'under the weather' and not their usual self. They may have a series of sore throats or other infections. Fever, weakness, painful joints, swollen lymph glands are all common symptoms.

CancerHelp UK has general sections on the two main types of acute leukaemia - acute myeloid leukaemia and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. These sections are not specific to children, but much of the causes, diagnosis and treatment information will be the same.

Although we have identified a number of lifestyle changes that can help to prevent many adult cancers developing, we don't know how to prevent AML or most other childhood cancers. We don't know what causes childhood AML either. We do know of some factors that increase risk but most children with AML don't have any of these risk factors anyway. And many children who do won't go on to develop AML. They include

• Some inherited medical conditions
• Exposure to radiation
• Previous cancer treatments
• Exposure to the chemical benzene

There is more information about all these further down this page. A couple of other factors keep cropping up as possible risk factors but so far there is no conclusive evidence that either of them are related to childhood leukaemia. They are

• Electromagnetic fields
• Vitamin K injection in newborn babies

Inherited conditions

Certain inherited (genetic) conditions can increase a child's risk of developing acute leukaemia. Children with Down's syndrome are 10 to 20 times more likely to get leukaemia than other children. Children born with immune system problems are also more likely to develop AML. Do bear in mind that AML is still very rare, even in these children.

Exposure to radiation

We know that radiation can increase leukaemia risk because children exposed to radiation after the atomic bombings in Japan had a much greater risk. Children who have radiotherapy for another cancer do have a slightly greater risk of developing acute leukaemia later on. But the risk is small compared to the risk to their health if the original cancer had not been treated with radiotherapy.

Previous cancer treatments

Past treatment with chemotherapy can increase risk of leukaemia many years later in children and adults. This risk depends on which drugs you were treated with and how much treatment you had. The drugs that can cause leukaemia are in a group called alkylating agents. You may have an increased risk if you have had intensive chemotherapy for cancers such as Hodgkin's disease or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. It is important to remember that this risk is small compared to the risk to your health posed by the cancer you had originally. And most people treated successfully for these diseases do not get leukaemia.

Exposure to the chemical benzene

Exposure to the chemical benzene over a long period of time increases risk of developing acute leukaemia. This is very rare in children because this level of benzene exposure is usually through work.

Vitamin K injection in newborn babies

To prevent a condition called vitamin K deficiency bleeding, vitamin K injections have been given to newborn babies since the late 1950's without any reported problems. VKDB is a very serious disease and about half the babies who suffer it will die or have permanent brain damage because of bleeding into the brain.

Concerns about the safety of vitamin K injection came about in the 1990's when 2 medical papers suggested a link between vitamin K injections and childhood leukaemia. Since then several other studies have been carried out in the UK, across Europe and in the USA which have found no association between vitamin K injections and an increased risk of childhood leukaemia.

Despite the evidence, this issue is still of great concern to some parents. The Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research has put together a list of references to help doctors, midwives and parents understand more about it.

Electromagnetic fields

One research group has suggested that exposure to electromagnetic fields might increase a child's risk of developing leukaemia. But this remains a theory because no other researchers have not yet found a conclusive link. There is more information about electromagnetic fields and cancer risk in this section.