Acute myeloid leukaemia

Leukaemia is cancer of the white blood cells. Acute leukaemia means it progresses rapidly and aggressively, and usually requires immediate treatment.

Acute leukaemia is classified according to the type of white blood cells affected. The 2 main types of white blood cells are:

lymphocytes – mostly used to fight viral infections myeloid cells – which perform a number of different functions, such as fighting bacterial infections, defending the body against parasites and preventing the spread of tissue damage 

This topic focuses on acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), which is an aggressive cancer of the myeloid cells. The following types of leukaemia are covered separately:

acute lymphoblastic leukaemia chronic myeloid leukaemia chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

Symptoms

The symptoms of AML usually develop over a few weeks and become increasingly more severe. Symptoms can include:

pale skin tiredness breathlessness frequent infections unusual and frequent bleeding, such as bleeding gums or nosebleeds

In more advanced cases, AML can make you extremely vulnerable to life-threatening infections or serious internal bleeding.

Read more about the complications of AML


The symptoms of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) usually develop over a few weeks, becoming more severe as the number of immature white blood cells (blast cells) in your blood increases.

Symptoms of AML can include:

pale skin tiredness breathlessness a high temperature (fever) excessive sweating weight loss frequent infections unusual and frequent bleeding, such as bleeding gums or nosebleeds easily bruised skin flat red or purple spots on the skin (petechiae) bone and joint pain a feeling of fullness or discomfort in your tummy (abdomen), caused by swelling of the liver or spleen

In rare cases of AML, the affected cells can spread into the central nervous system. This can cause symptoms such as headaches, fits (seizures), vomiting, blurred vision and dizziness.