Leukemia is the
most common type of childhood cancer, accounting for more than 3000 new cases
annually and 25% of all malignancies diagnosed in patients younger than 20
years in the United States.
Subtypes and
prevalence include acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) among 75% of cases; acute
myelogenous leukemia (AML) in 20%, and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), less
than 5%. Other types
of chronic leukemia, including those of lymphocytic and myelomonocytic cell
lineages, are extremely rare in childhood.
Statistics have
shown that leukemia is one of the most common malignancies in Jordan, Lebanon,
Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the
UAE. In most of these countries, leukemia is also the major form of pediatric
cancer
