The 5-year survival rate for children with leukemia is 83.6% in the USA. This means that 83.6% of children diagnosed with leukemia live for 5 years or more after their diagnosis. This is greatly improved from a 5-year survival rate of 36.5% in 1975. The improvement is largely attributed to advances in therapy, particularly therapy for ALL. The outlook or prognosis for an individual child is affected by the type of leukemia. In addition, there are certain characteristics of the patients and cancers that help doctors predict the prognosis (and determine treatment). These are referred to as prognostic factors. Generally prognostic factors are more meaningful in ALL than in AML. ALL The 5-year survival rate for children and adolescents under the age of 15 years diagnosed with ALL was 91.8% in the USA between 2007 and 2013. The survival rate for children under the age of 5 years with ALL was 94% during the same time period. Prognostic factors in ALL: * Age at diagnosis: Children between the ages of 1–9 years with B-cell ALL (a specific type of ALL) have better cure rates than children less than 1 year old or over 10 years old. This does not seem to matter in T-cell ALL (another specific type of ALL). * White blood cell count at diagnosis: Children with very high white blood cell counts at diagnosis are higher risk patients than those with lower counts. * Specific type of ALL * Spread to other organs (such as the brain, spinal cord, and testicles) signifies worse prognosis * Chromosome changes: Patients whose leukemia cells have more chromosomes are more likely to be cured. Different chromosome translocations are also associated with different prognoses. * Initial treatment response: Children who respond to treatment quickly initially have a better prognosis. AML The survival rate for children under the age of 15 years with AML was 66.4% in the USA between 2007 and 2013. This is lower than the rates for ALL. Prognostic factors for AML: * Age at diagnosis: Children under 2 years old may have a better prognosis than older children. However, how strong this link is is unclear. * White blood cell count at diagnosis: Children with lower white blood cell counts tend to have a better prognosis. * Children with Down Syndrome and AML typically have a good prognosis. * Specific type of AML: APL generally is a good prognosis. * Specific chromosome changes affect prognosis. * AML that started because of treatment for a different cancer usually has poorer prognosis. * Response to treatment: As with ALL, patients whose disease responds faster to treatment tend to have a better prognosis. * Children who are a normal weight usually have a better prognosis than those who are overweight or underweight. Aftereffects As treatments for<unk> s have gotten better, there are more children surviving and living into adulthood. These survivors are at risk for longterm aftereffects of treatment. The specific risks depend on the type of therapy that was given and the type of cancer the child had. The older aggressive treatment regimens with cranial irradiation and higher doses of anthracyclines (such as doxorubicin) caused increased risk of solid tumors, heart failure, growth retardation, and cognitive defects. In types of<unk> s with good cure rates (mainly ALL), efforts are continually made to decrease the amount of toxicity caused by chemotherapy and other treatments. ;Secondary cancers: Survivors who received treatment for<unk>  are at risk for developing a secondary cancer later in life. The risk of acquiring a second cancer is weighed against the benefit of receiving therapy for life-threatening leukemia. ;Neurological: Survivors of ALL are at risk for various neurocognitive and neuropsychological issues that affect their quality of life. These include issues with attention span, vision, processing speed, memory, growth failure, malnutrition, obesity, reduced fertility, psychiatric problems. All of the latent effects listed impact patients. ;Growth and development: Some<unk>  treatments, notably stem cell transplants, can stunt growth. Growth hormone is sometimes given to help with this. ;Fertility: Fertility may be affected in both boys and girls who receive leukemia treatment. ;Bone problems: Bone problems or damage may result from glucocorticoids. ;Emotional:Childhood leukemia is a very taxing disease, on the caregiver and the child. Some emotional issues that survivors have reported include: depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, difficulties with interpersonal relationships, poor body image, and schizophrenia among other issues. However, it is unclear if the rates of mental and emotional problems are higher in<unk>  survivors than the general population. Regardless, some children may have emotional or psychological issues that may be addressed by doctors, other care team members, parents, and friends.
Childhood leukemia
Myeloid leukemia
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Lymphoid leukemia
Acute myeloid leukemia
Acute leukemia
B-cell leukemia
Chronic leukemia