Survival rate of people with Leukaemia
The five-year relative survival rate has nearly quadrupled in the past 48 years for patients with leukaemia. From 1960 to 1963, the five-year relative survival rate among Americans of European descent with leukaemia was 14%. From 1975 to 1977, the five-year relative survival rate for all persons with leukaemia jumped to 35%, and from 1999 to 2005 the overall relative survival rate was 54%. The relative survival rates differ by the person's age at diagnosis, gender, race and the type of leukaemia.
From 1999 to 2005, the five-year relative survival rates overall were:
•Acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL): 66.3% overall; 90.9% for children under 5
•Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL): 78.8%
•Acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML): 23.4% overall; 60.2% for children under 15
•Chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML): 53.3%
Currently, there are approximately 245,225 people living with leukaemia in the United States.
Treatment outcomes vary, even among patients with the same diagnosis. Individuals are encouraged to talk to their physicians for more information. In addition, these statistics may underestimate survival to a degree because they may be based on data that does not include outcomes of treatment with the most current options available. Newer agents and drug combinations, progress in stem cell transplantation, better supportive care and studies of new drugs in clinical trials are all contributing to improved outcomes and quality of life for people diagnosed with blood cancers.
Deaths rate of people with Leukaemia
It is anticipated that approximately 21,870 deaths in the United States will be attributed to leukaemia in 2009 (12,590 males and 9,280 females). The highest rate of deaths from 2002 to 2006 was in whites (7.5 per 100,000), followed by African Americans (6.4 per 100,000).
In 2009, there will be an estimated 4,390 deaths from CLL and 1,400 deaths from ALL. There will be an estimated 9,000 deaths from AML and 470 deaths from CML in this year. Unclassified forms of leukaemia will account for 6,610 additional deaths.
In 2009, in the United States, leukaemia will be the fifth most common cause of cancer deaths in men and the seventh most common in women. The estimated numbers of deaths attributed to leukaemia in the United States is about 36% higher for males than females.
From 2002 to 2006, African Americans who were diagnosed with leukaemia between the ages of 25 and 64 had a higher death rate than whites from the disease. In 2009, approximately 1,830 African Americans (970 males and 860 females) are expected to die of leukaemia. Leukaemia is the seventh most common cause of cancer deaths in African-American males and the eighth most common in African-American females.
The leukaemia death rate for children 0 to 14 years of age in the United States has declined 88% from 1969 to 2006. Despite this decline, leukaemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under age 20. About 460 children under the age of 15 are expected to die from leukaemia in 2009.
