Acute leukemia is a rapidly fatal cancer of the blood or bone marrow, characterized by an abnormal proliferation of blood cells, usually white blood cells (leukocytes). This proliferation causes a drop in red blood cells, platelets, and normally functioning white blood cells, leading to symptoms such as anemia, easy bleeding and increased risk of infection.
Although acute leukemia was first described in the mid-1800s, its prognosis had changed little by the 1940s: death usually occurred within weeks of diagnosis. Aside from blood transfusions, general nursing care (shown in this 1940s image) and other supportive measures, medicine could offer little hope to patients and their families.