What are the key statistics about acute lymphocytic leukemia?

The American Cancer Society’s estimates for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) in the United States for 2013 (including both children and adults) are:

• About 6,070 new cases of ALL (3,350 in males and 2,720 in females)
• About 1,430 deaths from ALL (820 in males and 610 in females)

The risk for developing ALL is highest in children younger than 5 years of age. The risk then declines slowly until the mid-20s, and begins to rise again slowly after age 50. Overall, about one third of cases of ALL are in adults.

The average person’s lifetime risk of getting ALL is about 1 in 800. The risk is slightly higher in males than in females, and higher in whites than in African Americans.

While most cases of ALL occur in children, most deaths from ALL (about 4 out of 5) occur in adults. Children may do better because of differences between childhood and adult ALL in the disease itself, differences in treatment (children’s bodies can often handle aggressive treatment better than adult’s), or some combination of these. Some information on treatment success rates for adult ALL can be found in the section, "How is acute lymphocytic leukemia treated?"