Children who survive leukemia are living longer

A University of Minnesota Cancer Center study has found that children who beat leukemia are living longer lives. This is the first study to analyze, over a long period of time, the survival, medical late effects, marriage, education, and employment rates of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) survivors compared to a control group of their siblings. More than 90 percent of children and young adults who survive five years or longer after diagnosis and treatment for are alive 20 years later. “The favorable survival rates indicate the tremendous progress that has been made in the diagnosis and treatment of AML in children and young adults," says Daniel Mulrooney, M.D., the pediatric oncologist and researcher at the University of Minnesota Medical School and Cancer Center who led the research team on the study. However, he cautions that leukemia survivers should continue follow-up care, both to ensure the disease doesn’t return and to montior long-term effcts from AML treatment.

For more on the study’s findings:
- check out this press release from the University of Minnesota Cancer Center

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