Leukemia
New Cases (Incidence)
- An estimated 44,600 people living in the United States will be diagnosed with leukemia in 2011.
- New cases of chronic leukemia will account for 5.6 percent more new cases than acute leukemia.
New Cases (Incidence) by Major Leukemia Type
Below are estimated numbers of people living in the United States who will be diagnosed with leukemia in 2011, broken down by most common leukemia type:
- acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 12,950
- chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), 14,570
- chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), 5,150
- acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 5,730
Incidence by Gender
- Incidence rates for all types of leukemia tend to be higher among males than among females.
- In 2011, males are expected to account for more than 57 percent of new cases of leukemia.
Incidence by Age Group
Children
- Leukemia is the most common type of cancer in children and adolescents ages 0 to 19 years, accounting for 27 percent of all types of cancer occuring among children and adolescents younger than 20 years.
- An estimated 3,811 children and adolescents younger than 15 years old will be diagnosed with leukemia in the United States in 2011.
- About 34 percent of cancers in children and adolescents aged 0 to 14 years are leukemia.
- Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer in children aged 1 to 7 years old.
- The incidence of ALL among 1- to 4-year-olds is nearly eight times greater than the rate for young adults aged 20 to 24 years old.
- Survival statistics have improved significantly over the past five decades. Most children and adolescents under 20 with ALL will become five-year survivors of the disease.
Adolescents and Young Adults
- ALL incidence is higher in children and adolescents from 0 to 14 years old than it is in people aged 15 years old through adulthood.
- AML incidence is lower in children and adolescents from 0 to 14 years old than it is in people aged 15 years old through young adulthood.
- In 2004 to 2008, among 15- to 19-year-olds, ALL incidence was more than twice that of AML.
- In 25- to 29-year-olds, AML incidence was 57 percent higher than that of ALL.
- From 1975 to 2008, the incidence of AML has remained the same overall.
Adults
CLL, AML and CML are most prevalent in the seventh, eighth and ninth decades of life:
- CLL incidence increases significantly starting at age 50.
- AML incidence increases significantly starting at age 50.
- CML incidence increases significantly starting at age 65.
Incidence by Race and Ethnicity
- Leukemia is the tenth most frequently occurring type of cancer in all races or ethnicities.
- Leukemia incidence is highest among whites (13.1 per 100,000).
- Leukemia incidence is lowest among Asian and Pacific Islander populations (7.3 per 100,000) and American Indian and Alaska Native populations (7.6 per 100,000).
- Leukemia rates are higher among whites than among other races or ethnicities.
- From 1999 to 2008, incidence rates for leukemia have shown the greatest decline in Asian and Pacific islander populations.
- Leukemia rates are higher for children and adolescents who are white, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native than for black children and adolescents.
- Hispanic children and adolescents under the age of 20 years have the highest rates of leukemia.
Survival
- In 2011, an estimated 274,930 people in the US are living with or in remission from leukemia.
- The five-year relative survival rate for patients with leukemia has nearly quadrupled in the past 50 years from 14 percent in whites from 1960 to 1963 to 56.5 percent for all races from 2001 to 2007.
Survival by Major Types of Leukemia
From 2001 to 2007, the five-year relative survival rates overall were:
- ALL, 66.6 percent
- CLL, 80.8 percent
- AML, 23.6 percent
- CML, 55.2 percent
Survival for Children
From 2001 to 2007, the five-year relative survival rates for children were:
- ALL, 90.5 percent for children and adolescents younger than15 years, and 91.5 percent for children younger than 5 years
- AML, 63.6 percent for children and adolescents younger than15 years
Deaths
- An estimated 21,780 persons (12,740 males and 9,040 females) in the US will die of leukemia in 2011.
- The highest rates of deaths from 2004 to 2008 was in whites (7.4 per 100,000), followed by blacks (6.3 per 100,000).
- Between 2004 to 2008, black males between the ages of 25 and 64 had a higher death rate than white males had from the disease.
- Leukemia is the seventh most common cause of cancer deaths in black males and the ninth most common in black females.
- The leukemia death rate for children and adolescents aged 0 to 14 years in the US has declined 77 percent from 1969 to 2007.
- Despite this decline, leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under age 20.
- About 440 children and adolescents under 15 years are expected to die from leukemia in 2011.
Deaths by Major Types of Leukemia
Below are the estimated numbers of deaths in the US in 2011 from leukemia, broken down by most common type:
- ALL, 1,420
- CLL, 4,380
- AML, 9,050
- CML, 270
Unclassified forms of leukemia will account for 6,660 additional deaths.
Leukemia facts and statistics from Facts 2012.
