What Is the Prognosis for Childhood Leukemia?
These factors are used to help tell what risk group a child may fall into. In one of the more common systems, children with ALL are divided into low-risk, standard-risk, high-risk, or very high-risk groups. The higher-risk groups are given more intense treatment. As a rule, children at low risk have a better outlook than those at very high risk. There are many prognostic factors used in acute lymphocytic leukemia, but these two are the most important. Keep in mind that many children with one or more poor factors can still be cured. Age: Children with B-cell ALL between the ages of 1 and 9 tend to do better. Children younger than 1 and older than 10 are at higher risk. The outlook in T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia isn’t affected much by age. White blood cell count (WBC): Children who have very high white cell counts (greater than 50,000 per cubic millimeter) when the leukemia is found need more intensive treatment. AML has several subtypes, based on the type of cell involved and how
