Acute myeloid leukemia: Epidemiology and etiology

Acute myeloid leukemias (AMLs) are infrequent, yet highly malignant neoplasms responsible for a large number of cancer-related deaths. The incidence has been near stable over the last years. It continuously shows 2 peaks in occurrence in early childhood and later adulthood. With an incidence of 3.7 per 100,000 persons and an age-dependent mortality of 2.7 to nearly 18 per 100,000 persons, there is a rising awareness in the Western world of AML's special attributes resulting from an ever-aging population. To objectively describe epidemiologic data on this patient population, recent publications were evaluated to make transparent the current trends and facts. A review of the literature is presented, reflecting…