Acute myelogenous leukemia

What is leukemia?

Leukemia is blood cancer. It develops in the bone marrow—the soft, spongy center of the long bones that produces the three major blood cells.

What is acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)?

In the form of the disease known as acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), the white blood cells that are affected are a specific kind called myeloid cells, or “myeloblasts.”

How Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center approaches AML

We understand that you may have a lot of questions when your child is diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia. Is it dangerous? Will it affect my child long-term? What do we do next? We’ve tried to provide some answers to those questions in the following pages, and our experts can explain your child’s condition fully.

Our multidisciplinary Leukemia Program ensures in-depth discussion of each case and personalized treatment plans for every patient. Your child will receive integrated care from a team that includes the following specialists:

• pediatric oncologists, surgical oncologists and radiation oncologists
• pediatric experts from every medical subspecialty, such as orthopedics, ophthalmology, physical therapy and radiology, among others
• highly skilled and experienced pediatric oncology nurses
• Child Life specialists, psychologists, social workers and resource specialists who provide supportive care before, during and after your child’s treatment

In addition, our cancer center offers the following services:

• Expert diagnosis by pathologists using advanced molecular diagnostic testing to identify your child’s type of tumor. Knowing the molecular composition of a tumor helps predict which treatments are more likely to work.
• Access to unique Phase I clinical trials, from our own investigators, and from the Children’s Oncology Group.
• Expert surgical care from experienced pediatric surgeons, several of whom developed approaches used at centers across the country.
• Support services to address all of your child and family’s needs.
• A weekly survivorship clinic, which set the national standard for childhood cancer survivorship care. This weekly clinic offers ongoing care to manage late effects caused by your child’s cancer or the treatment they received.