Acute Myeloid Leukemia - Epidemiology

Epidemiology

Acute myeloid leukemia is a relatively rare cancer. There are approximately 10,500 new cases each year in the United States, and the incidence rate has remained stable from 1995 through 2005. AML accounts for 1.2% of all cancer deaths in the United States.

The incidence of AML increases with age; the median age at diagnosis is 63 years. AML accounts for about 90% of all acute leukemias in adults, but is rare in children. The rate of therapy-related AML (that is, AML caused by previous chemotherapy) is rising; therapy-related disease currently accounts for about 10–20% of all cases of AML. AML is slightly more common in men, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.3:1.

There is some geographic variation in the incidence of AML. In adults, the highest rates are seen in North America, Europe, and Oceania, while adult AML is rarer in Asia and Latin America. In contrast, childhood AML is less common in North America and India than in other parts of Asia. These differences may be due to population genetics, environmental factors, or a combination of the two.