AML results from acquired (not inherited) genetic damage to the DNA of developing cells in the bone marrow.
The effects are:
1) the uncontrolled, exaggerated growth and accumulation of cells called "leukemic blasts" which fail to function as normal blood cells and
2) the blockade of the production of normal marrow cells, leading to a deficiency of red cells (anemia), and platelets (thrombocytopenia) and normal white cells (especially neutrophils, i.e., neutropenia) in the blood.

Causes and Risk Factors

In most cases the cause of AML is not known. Several factors have been associated with an increased risk of the disease. These include exposure to

• Very high doses of irradiation, as carefully studied in the Japanese survivors of atomic bomb detonations
• The chemical benzene, usually in the work place
• Chemotherapy used to treat cancers such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer or the lymphomas. The chemothearapy drug classes known as alkylating agents and topoisosomerase inhibitors are most frequently associated with an risk of AML
• Therapeutic radiation, depending on the dose and duration of treatment
• Tobacco smoke.

AML is not contagious. Uncommon genetic disorders such as Fanconi anemia, Schwachman-Diamond syndrome, Down syndrome and others are associated with an increased risk of AML. Very rarely, an unexpectedly high number of cases of AML may be diagnosed within the same family. It is thought that offspring in these families inherit a gene that makes them more susceptible to developing AML.

About 15 to 20 percent of childhood leukemias are cases of AML. Older people are more likely to develop the disease. The risk increases ten-fold in people from age 30-34 (about 1 case per 100,000 people) to age 65-69 (about 1 case per 10,000 people.)

To read more about Leukemia, click on the link below;

• Leukemia and Lymphoma Society