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Perhaps, when you are told that you have cancer, it is natural to wonder what may have caused the disease. And of course, no one knows the exact causes of leukaemia. Even the medical expert like doctors themselves, they seldom know why one person gets leukaemia and another does not. However, research shows that there are certain risk factors which can increase the chance that a person will get this disease.

Basically, the term risk factor from medical viewpoints is used to describe something that may increase the chance that a person will develop leukaemia. For most types of leukaemia, the risk factors and possible causes are not known considering the fact that people can get leukaemia at any age, mostly with people over the age of 60. For example, the most common types of leukaemia in adults are AML and CLL whereas each year roughly around 3,811 children develop leukaemia. Therefore, the risk factors may be different for the different types of leukaemia.

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1. RADIATION

– People exposed to very high levels of radiation are much more likely than others to get acute myeloid leukaemia, chronic myeloid leukaemia, or acute lymphocytic leukaemia. Such very high levels of radiation have been caused by atomic bomb explosions, such as those in Japan during World War II. The people including those children in particular who survived atomic bomb explosions were at increased risk of leukaemia. Another source of exposure to high levels of radiation is medical treatment for cancer and other conditions. In this case, the typical radiation therapy for instance can increase the risk of leukaemia as well.

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2. CHEMOTHERAPY

– Cancer patients treated with certain types of cancer-fighting drugs sometimes get acute myeloid leukaemia or acute lymphocytic leukaemia later. For example, being treated with drugs known as alkylating agents or topoisomerase inhibitors is linked with a small chance of developing acute leukaemia afterwards.

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3. BENZENE

– Exposure to benzene in the workplace can cause acute myeloid leukaemia. It may also cause chronic myeloid leukaemia or acute lymphocytic leukaemia. Although the majority of benzene in the environment comes from petroleum products, however, half of the personal exposure is from cigarette smoke. Overall, benzene is used widely in the chemical industry, which can also be found in cigarette smoke and gasoline.

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4. FAMILY HISTORY

– It is arguably said to be rare for more than one person in a family to have leukaemia. When it does happen, it is most likely to involve chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. However, only a few people with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia have a father, mother, brother, sister, or child who also has the disease. Bottom line, having one or more risk factors does not mean that a person will get leukaemia. Most people who have risk factors are likely to never develop the disease.