The American Cancer Society's estimates for leukemia in the United States for 2009 are:

• about 44,790 new cases of leukemia (all kinds) and 21,870 deaths from leukemia (all kinds)

• about 5,760 new cases of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), of which about 1 out of 3 will be in adults

• about 1,400 deaths from ALL, about 3 out of 4 which will be in adults

The risk for developing ALL is highest in children between 2 and 4 years of age. The risk then declines slowly until the mid-20s, and begins to rise again slowly after age 50.

The average person's lifetime risk of getting ALL is about 1/10 of 1% (about 1 in 1,000). The risk is slightly higher in men than in women, and higher in whites than in African Americans.

Some information on treatment success rates for adult ALL can be found in the section, "How is acute lymphocytic leukemia treated?"

Last Medical Review: 07/23/2009
Last Revised: 07/23/2009