We just learned about the type of leukemia called Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
If the Leukemia is Acute and Myeloid, it is called Acute Myeloid Leukemia or AML for short.
We know white blood cells are made in the bone marrow.
The myeloid white blood cells are the ones that turn into neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, or monocytes that we've learned about.
They start as stem cells, then turn into something called myeloid blasts, then later turn into these other types of cells.
The human body is only supposed to have so many of each type of cell, and only so many myeloid blasts.
With AML, the body makes too many myeloid blasts over and over, they don't turn into any of the other types of cells, and the myeloid blasts cause problems in the human body like getting infections, having fevers, getting lots of bruises, and tiredness.
Chemotherapy is one of the ways to try and beat this cancer, which is a type of radiation that tries to kill the bad cells.
(from: wikipedia - acute myeloid leukemia)
Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Depth Perception
