Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a type of cancer that affects the white blood cells. It’s the most common form of childhood cancer, accounting for about 25 percent of all childhood cancers. ALL develops when the body makes too many immature white blood cells, called lymphoblasts. These cells don’t work like mature white blood cells, so they can’t fight infection like healthy cells.
ALL is considered an acute leukemia because it progresses quickly and aggressively. Symptoms can include fever, pale skin, easy bruising, fatigue, weight loss, and frequent infections. It can also cause anemia, or low red blood cell counts, and thrombocytopenia, or low platelet counts.
Treatment for ALL typically involves chemotherapy, radiation, and sometimes bone marrow transplant. Chemotherapy works by killing off the unhealthy white blood cells and allowing the healthy ones to grow in their place. Radiation targets specific areas of the body to kill off cancer cells. Bone marrow transplants can help replace cancerous cells with healthy ones.
The prognosis for patients with ALL depends on their age at diagnosis, how far the cancer has spread, and the response to treatment. In general, the younger the patient and the more quickly the cancer is treated, the better the outcome. With successful treatment, many patients are able to go into remission and live a long and healthy life.