Leukemia Facts

General Information

• Cures and better treatments for blood cancers will come through research.
• There are approximately 70,000 people living with a blood cancer in Canada.
• Leukemia & lymphoma account for 44% of childhood cancers (age 0-14 years).
• Lymphoma is the most common cancers in adolescents & young adults (age15-29).
• Overall, men are diagnosed with a blood cancer more frequently than women.
• 15,010 Canadians will be diagnosed with a blood cancer this year; or one person every 35 minutes.
• 7,210 Canadians will die from a blood cancer this year, or one person every 73 minutes.
• Survival Rates (ages 15-99): 1960 2009
  Leukemia 10% 51%
  Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma 33% 61%
  Hodgkin Lymphoma 30% 86%
  Myeloma 6% 34%

Leukemia
• This year, 4,700 Canadians will be diagnosed with leukemia, and 2,500 will die.
• Approximately one in every 58 men and 81 women will develop leukemia in their lifetime.
• Approximately one in every 93 men and 135 women will die from leukemia.
• Leukemia is considered to have a poor prognosis, with a 5-year survival rate of 51%.
• Leukemia remains the most common of all childhood cancers (those age 14 & under). Leukemia
  accounts for 32% of all childhood cancers and causes 27% of deaths due to childhood cancer.
• Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood leukemia, has a very good prognosis.
  Although few children survived leukemia 50 years ago, approximately 90% of Canadian children with
  ALL today are alive 5 years after diagnosis.
• Childhood Acute Myelogenous Leukemia is harder to treat, with a 5-year survival rate of 67%.
• More advances have been made in the treatment of leukemia than in any other cancer, but it continues
  to be the leading cause of death by disease for Canadian children.

Information from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada