An estimated 1,500 deaths are expected to occur among children aged 0-14 this year, about one-third of them from leukemia. (ACS)

Leukemia is a malignant disease that originates in the bone marrow. There is not a heredity link to leukemia. It appears to be caused by a genetic injury to an individual cell’s DNA. Of the approximately 30,800 new cases that will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year, more than half will occur in people over the age of 60. While leukemia is the most common cancer in children, ten times as many adults are diagnosed with the disease than children.

Leukemia has been linked to excessive exposure to ionizing radiation and to certain chemicals such as benzene, a commercially used toxic liquid that is present in gasoline and cigarette smoke. (ACS)

Approximately 167,000 people are living with leukemia in the U.S.Approximately 21,700 deaths will occur this year in the U.S.