Leukaemia

• Leukaemia develops when white blood cells, which reside in our bone marrow (the soft tissue inside our bones), grow abnormally
• Blood cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the UK, with over 41,000 people being diagnosed with it every. Leukaemia is classified based on whether it is acute or chronic. Acute leukaemia develops and progresses rapidly, while chronic leukaemia appears gradually and grows slowly over months to years.

There are four main types of leukaemia, depending on the type of white blood cell that is affected (either myeloid or lymphoid) and whether the cancer is fast growing (acute) or relatively slow growing (chronic):