Leukemia (in English: leukemia) is a Greek term that means white blood, and leukemia is a tumor or abnormal proliferation of white blood cells and bone marrow.

Leukemia differs from other types of cancer in that it does not create a mass of abnormal cells, but rather increases the production of abnormal blood cells, specifically white blood cells.

Leukemia is a defect in the production of white blood cells. Blood consists of a different group of cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets). These cells are made primarily in the bone marrow, and specific types of white blood cells are also made in the nodes. Lymph, spleen, and thymus.
After white blood cells are manufactured and reach maturity, they are released into the blood circulation to perform their vital functions as an essential part of the immune system, where they resist infection and defend the body from various germs.
Leukemia begins with the formation of abnormal w

hite blood cells in the bone marrow (which is the fragile part inside the bone). These abnormal cells do not grow and mature normally, and therefore, as a result of this defect, they lose their ability to carry out their basic function in fighting infection.

The number of these abnormal cells increases and continues to divide until they fill the bone marrow in a way that affects the bone marrow’s ability to manufacture other types of blood components.
Millions of cells are manufactured daily from the bone marrow, but when abnormal white blood cells are present, this will affect the production of red blood cells (anaemia) and platelets (thrombocytopenia), and thus other symptoms accompanying the deficiency of normal white blood cells appear.

Leukemia has been associated with its spread in children, but it is more present in adults, as the probability of the disease occurring increases with age, as the probability of a person developing leukemia during his life is 1.6%, and this probability increases in Caucasian people, that is, those with light skin. More than people of African ethnicity.

According to the National Cancer Institute, the number of annual cases diagnosed with leukemia is 14.1 per 100,000 people. The number of people diagnosed with leukemia in the United States in 2016
An estimated 414,773 patients.

Leukemia also accounts for about 3.7% of all new cancer cases.
Such as the causes of leukemia due to damage to the genetic material contained within a single cell. The genetic material within a single cell carries the special code for the cell’s work, growth, and function (the molecules of the genetic material come together to form the gene, which is the basic genetic unit that makes up the chromosome).

If the genetic material in only one cell is damaged, and this cell continues to divide and reproduce, it leads to a defect in all the resulting cells. Although the cause of a defect in the genetic material is still unknown, they have been able to determine where the defect occurs in specific chromosomes in leukemia patients.

Factors that increase the likelihood of leukemia:
The causes of leukemia are still not fully understood, but there are a group of factors whose presence increases the probability of developing leukemia, and these factors include:

• Having a family history of leukemia.

• Exposure to a large amount of radiation.

• Exposure to dangerous chemicals such as benzene (a solvent used in oil refineries and other industries, and also found in cigarettes).

• Smoking, which increases the risk of acute myeloid leukemia.

• Exposure to previous cancer treatment with chemotherapy or radiation.

• Having Down syndrome in a patient increases the possibility of leukemia.

• The presence of blood diseases such as myelodysplastic syndrome and proleukemia.

• The presence of a specific genetic defect, such as the presence of the Philadelphia chromosome, is associated with the occurrence of chronic myelogenous leukemia.