Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) starts in the bone marrow (the soft inner part of certain bones, where new blood cells are made), but most often it quickly moves into the blood, as well. It can sometimes spread to other parts of the body including the lymph nodes, liver, spleen, central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), and testicles. It is a type of leukemia, or cancer of the blood and blood-forming tissue, where many abnormal granulocytes (a type of white blood cell) are produced by the body. Most often, AML develops from cells that would turn into white blood cells (other than lymphocytes), but sometimes AML develops in other types of blood-forming cells. The different types of AML are discussed in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Subtypes and Prognostic Factors. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has many other names, including acute myelocytic leukemia, acute myelogenous leukemia, acute granulocytic leukemia, and acute non-lymphocytic leukemia.