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Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML)
What is juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia?
Juvenile myelomonocytic (my-eh-lo-mah-no-SIT-ik) leukemia (loo-KEE-me-ah)”JMML”is a rare type of childhood leukemia in which too many immature white blood cells are made in the bone marrow. These immature white blood cells are called "blasts."
What does JMML do to a person's body?
Over time, the blasts crowd out the red blood cells and platelets. People with JMML may develop serious infections or anemia, or they may bleed too easily. In people with JMML, cancer cells often spread into tissues, such as the skin, lung, and intestines.
How common is JMML?
JMML occurs in infants, young children, and occasionally adolescents. It affects only about 1 of every 1 million children under the age of 14 each year. It occurs more commonly in boys than in girls.
What causes JMML?
The cause is unknown. The actions of the bone marrow are complex and controlled by many factors, including the genes. Recent scientific studies have found a genetic change in some people with JMML that results in a combination of 2 individual genes. This new "fusion gene" creates a protein called a kinase (KY-nase) that causes some blood cells to multiply.
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