Epidemiology, risk factors and possibilities for the prevention of acute leukaemia.

Abstract

Acute leukaemias are malignant diseases of haematopoiesis, traditionally classified according to the affected cell line as acute lymphoblastic and acute myelogenous leukaemia. In terms of incidence, acute leukaemias are rare diseases - in the Czech Republic, only 2-3 new acute myelogenous leukaemia cases/100 000 population are diagnosed annually and less than 1 new case of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia/100 000 residents. The causes of acute leukaemias are still poorly understood. The established risk factors are age, ionizing radiation or Downs syndrome. Moreover, a number of potential risk factors have been described to play a role in development of acute leukaemias and to multiply the risk, such as physical factors, chemicals, genetic and familial predispositions or other diseases. The presented review summarizes the knowledge of the aetiology of acute leukaemias published since 2000. It describes their epidemiological characteristics and risk factors and outlines the possibilities for their prevention.