About APL: A rare blood cancer
Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a rare but serious and aggressive (fast-growing) form of
leukemia which can affect people of any age. The annual incidence of newly diagnosed APL in the
U.S. is approximately 1,000 to 1,500 cases, with another 2,500 to 4,000 cases occurring outside
the U.S.
1
APL is a subtype of the cancer known as acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and accounts for approximately
10% of AML patients.
2 APL occurs when the body produces too many immature blood cells known as
promyelocytes, which cannot carry out their normal functions and which block the production of
normal mature blood cells.
>> Click here for more information about AML from the National Cancer Institute.
1. Soignet SL. Clinical experience of arsenic trioxide in relapsed acute promyelocytic leukemia. Oncologist. 2001;6 Suppl 2:11-16.
2. Lengfelder E, Saussele S, Weisser A, et al. Treatment concepts of acute promyelocytic leukemia. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2005;56:261-274.