How frequent is acute myeloid leukemia?
This type of leukemia accounts for 40% of all cases of leukemia in the western hemisphere. More than 20,000 new cases are diagnosed every year, resulting in more than 10,000 deaths.
Acute myeloid leukemia is a relatively rare disease compared to other types of cancer. However, according to most estimates, every year, between 3 to 4 new cases of acute myeloid leukemia are diagnosed per 100,000 inhabitants.
The median age for the diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia is 65 years. It is very infrequent in patients below the age of 45, and as such, it is considered a type of cancer more typical of old age.
The probability of developing the disease increases with every passing decade. Therefore, the probability that a patient between 70 and 85 years of age develops AML is significantly higher than the probability of a patient who is between the ages of 50 to 70.
Another curious fact is that acute myeloid leukemia is somewhat more common in men than in women, with a ratio of 1.3 men diagnosed for each woman.