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Leukemias are classified as either lymphocytic or myeloid, depending on the type of leukocyte affected. In addition, leukemias are classified as either acute, referring to a rapidly progressing disease that involves immature leukocytes, or chronic, referring to a slower proliferation involving mature white cells. In acute leukemias, immature nonfunctioning leukocytes called blast cells proliferate.
The myeloid leukemias affect white blood cells (myelocytes) that give rise to granulocytes (phagocytic white blood cells that mount an inflammatory immune response). They include chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), also called acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL). The lymphocytic leukemias affect the white blood cells that give rise to various types of lymphocytes. They include acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL); chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), also called chronic granulocytic leukemia; and hairy cell leukemia (HCL), a chronic leukemia named for the cells' tiny hairlike projections. The lymphocytic leukemias are sometimes referred to as B cell leukemias or T cell leukemias depending upon whether they arise in antibody-producing B cells (HCL, CLL, and some cases of ALL) or in the T cell lymphocytes involved in cell-mediated immunity (some cases of ALL). (See immunity for a further explanation of the cells of the immune system.) Each of these types may be further classified into subtypes. Most childhood leukemias are of the acute lymphocytic type; acute myeloid leukemia is the most common type of adult leukemia.
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