Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia - Epidemiology

Epidemiology

In the US, the incidence of ALL is roughly 6000 new cases per year (as of 2009), or approximately 1 in 50,000. ALL accounts for approximately 70 percent of all childhood leukemia cases (ages 0 to 19 years), making it the most common type of childhood cancer. It has a peak incident rate of 2–5 years old, decreasing in incidence with increasing age before increasing again at around 50 years old. ALL is slightly more common in males than females. There is an increased incidence in people with Down Syndrome, Fanconi anemia, Bloom syndrome, Ataxia telangiectasia, X-linked agammaglobulinemia, and Severe combined immunodeficiency.