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Leukemia Risk Factors

Unfortunately, most cases of leukemia cannot be prevented, because there is no known causes of lymphoma. There are only possible risk factors.

A risk factor is something that increases a person's chance of getting a disease. Some risk factors, like smoking, can be controlled. Others, like a person's age, can't be changed. But risk factors don't tell us everything. Having a risk factor, or even several risk factors, does not mean that you will get the disease. And many people who get the disease may not have any known risk factors. Even if a person has a risk factor and gets cancer, it is often very hard to know how much that risk factor may have contributed to the cancer.

Risk factors for acute myeloid leukemia (AML)

Smoking
Smoking is a proven risk factor for AML. Many people know that smoking is linked to cancers of the lungs, mouth, and throat. But few know that it can also affect cells that do not come into direct contact with smoke. Cancer-causing substances in tobacco smoke get into the bloodstream and spread to many parts of the body.

Chemicals
Exposure to certain chemicals has been linked to acute leukemia. For instance, long-term exposure to high levels of benzene and some other organic solvents are risk factors for AML.

Cancer treatment
Patients with other cancers who are treated with certain chemotherapy drugs are more likely to develop AML.

Radiation
Exposure to a high dose of radiation, either therapeutic radiation for other cancers or accidental exposures, is a risk factor for AML. The risk of leukemia from lower levels of radiation used for x-rays or CT scans is not clear. It is not clear how much the increase might be, but to be safe, most doctors try to limit a person's exposure to radiation as much as possible.

Certain blood problems
AML does not appear to be an inherited disease. There are some genetic syndromes that seem to raise the risk of AML. These include:

Congenital (present at birth) syndromes
AML does not appear to be an inherited disease. There are some syndromes with genetic changes that seem to raise the risk of AML. These include:

  • Down syndrome
  • Fanconi anemia
  • Dyskeratosis congenita
  • Shwachman-Diamond syndrome
  • Bloom syndrome
  • Diamond-Blackfan anemia
  • Li-Fraumeni syndrome
  • Kostmann Syndrome

Family history
Although most cases of AML are not thought to have a strong genetic link, having a close relative (such as a parent or sibling) with AML increases your risk of getting the disease. Someone who has an identical twin who had AML before the age of one year has a very strong risk of also getting AML.

Gender
AML is more common in males than in females. The reasons for this are not clear.

Source: American Cancer Society - What are the risk factors for acute myeloid leukemia?

Risk factors for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL)

Most people with acute lymphocytic leukemia don't have any known risk factors, and thus there is no way to prevent acute lymphocytic leukemia at this time. There are only a few known risk factors for ALL:

Radiation
Exposure to a high dose of radiation, either therapeutic radiation for other cancers or accidental exposures, is a risk factor for ALL. The risk of leukemia from lower levels of radiation used for x-rays or CT scans is not clear. It is not clear how much the increase might be, but to be safe, most doctors try to limit a person's exposure to radiation as much as possible.

Inherited syndromes
A child with an identical twin that develops ALL before age 6 has an increased risk of developing leukemia. If an identical twin develops leukemia within the first few months of life, the other twin will almost always develop the same type of leukemia. There are some inherited syndromes that seem to raise the risk of ALL. A syndrome is a group of signs and symptoms that together point to a certain disorder or disease. These include:

  • Down syndrome
  • Bloom syndrome
  • Ataxia-telangiectasia
  • Neurofibromatosis

Race/ethnicity
ALL is more common in whites than in African Americans, but the reasons for this are not clear.

Gender
ALL is slightly more common in males than in females. The reason for this is unknown.

Identical twin with ALL
A child with an identical twin that develops ALL before age 6 has an increased risk of developing leukemia. If an identical twin develops leukemia within the first few months of life, the other twin will almost always develop the same type of leukemia.

Source: American Cancer Society - What are the risk factors for acute lymphocytic leukemia?

Risk factors for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)

For most patients with CML, there is no known underlying cause. There are only a few established risk factors for the development of CML:

Chemicals
Exposure to certain chemicals has been linked to chronic myeloid leukemia. For instance, long-term exposure to high levels of benzene and some other organic solvents are risk factors for CML.

Radiation
Exposure to a high dose of radiation, either therapeutic radiation for other cancers or accidental exposures, is a risk factor for CML. The risk of leukemia from lower levels of radiation used for x-rays or CT scans is not clear. It is not clear how much the increase might be, but to be safe, most doctors try to limit a person's exposure to radiation as much as possible.

Age:
The risk of getting CML goes up with age.

Gender:
This disease is slightly more common in males than females, but it's not known why.

Source: American Cancer Society - Can chronic myeloid leukemia be prevented?

Still have questions?

The nurses at Cancer AnswerLine™ have answers. Call 1-800-865-1125 and you'll get a personal response from one of our registered nurses, who have years of experience in caring for people with cancer.

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