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Acute myeloid leukemia

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Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow, in which the marrow makes too many abnormal immature blood cells.

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What is AML?

In AML, the bone marrow makes large numbers of abnormal, immature blood cells that crowd out healthy ones. It is the most common type of acute leukaemia in adults. ‘Acute’ means it usually gets worse quickly if it is not treated, so treatment needs to start straight away. The risk is higher with older age, being male, smoking, past chemotherapy or radiotherapy, contact with benzene, and some earlier blood disorders.

What are the signs?

Early signs can feel like flu. They include:

  • tiredness or weakness;
  • fever and infections;
  • pale skin;
  • bruising or bleeding easily, or tiny red spots under the skin;
  • shortness of breath, weight loss or bone pain.

How is it treated today?

Treatment usually comes in two phases. The first aims to clear leukaemia cells from the blood and bone marrow (remission). The second aims to destroy any cells that are left, so the leukaemia does not come back. Options include chemotherapy, targeted drugs chosen by gene tests, and a stem cell transplant. People who cannot have intensive chemotherapy may be offered other drugs. A subtype called acute promyelocytic leukaemia is treated with its own specific medicines.

What affects the outlook?

The outlook depends on things such as age, the AML subtype, a very high white blood cell count, infection at diagnosis, spread to the brain or spinal cord, and whether the leukaemia followed an earlier blood disorder or cancer treatment. Older age may mean a lower chance of remission. Remission means normal blood counts and no signs of leukaemia, but leukaemia cells can still come back, which is why treatment continues after remission.

Machine summary of published research · sources and dates below · 2026-11-06

Written from: NCI PDQ: Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment (PDQ®)–Patient Version (2025-05-16) · MedlinePlus: Acute Myeloid Leukemia (2023-11-27) · read on 2026-11-06

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Cure
Treatable, not yet curableSource: ESMO
Standard treatment
Intensive chemo, often a stem cell transplantSource: ESMO

Get screened

For family members and people at higher risk: free checks can find some cancers early, before there are symptoms.

There is no routine screening for this cancer. If you have symptoms or a family history, talk to your doctor.

If several people in your family had cancer, ask your GP whether genetic counselling makes sense for you.

What do you need help with?

Where treatment stands for Acute myeloid leukemia

Four steps, from proven to unproven.

  1. Approved in Austria

    Usual treatment: Intensive chemo, often a stem cell transplant. ESMO

    We do not have the list of medicines approved in Austria yet. Your doctor knows what is available here.

  2. Being tested in people

    13 open trials in Austria, 621 worldwide. See the trials

    • 1 Phase 1
    • 2 Phase 2
    • 9 Phase 3
    • 1 Other studies

    Phase 1 – first tests in people, mainly for safety · Phase 2 – does it help? · Phase 3 – compared with the usual treatment.

    Trials taking new patients now. Each trial counts once; one in two phases counts as the higher one.

    • 4 chemotherapy blocks: Course 1 AIE (cytarabine/idarubicin/etoposide), Course 2 AI (cytarabine/idarubicin), Course 3 HAD (high-dose cytarabine (1g)/daunorubicin), Course 4 HA (high-dose cytarabine). (Phase 3)
    • AG-120 (Phase 3)
    • AG-221 (Phase 3)
    • all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) (Phase 3)

  3. Only in the lab or in animals

    Not counted yet for this disease.

  4. No proof it works

    Animal worm medicines (ivermectin, fenbendazole) for cancer: not approved, and not enough research in people to know if they help. American Cancer Society: What to Know About Ivermectin (21 May 2026) · American Cancer Society: What to Know About Fenbendazole (21 Oct 2025)

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Latest research

The five newest articles. The label comes from the PubMed index: whether it was tested in people, in animals or only in the lab.

Not labelled yet: PubMed has not indexed the article yet, so we do not guess.

All articles further down this page

Support near you

Patient groups and help in Austria.

All supportOrganisations that can help, further down this page

Cure status

Closest to patients

  1. DEC3-VEN vs. Venetoclax-Based vs. DA Regimens in Newly Diagnosed AMLPhase 3 trial: Acute myeloid leukemiaThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University · Kunming, ChinaPhase 3Results expected 2026
  2. Sorafenib Combined With Venetoclax as Pre-emptive Therapy Strategy for MRD+ AML: a Prospective, Single-arm, Multicenter Clinical StudyPhase 2/3 trial: Sorafenib (SORA), Venetoclax (VEN)Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University (sponsor)Phase 2/3Results expected 2026
  3. Effectiveness of Medium-Dose Cytarabine Combined With Venetoclax for Consolidation Therapy in Elderly Patients With Intermediate to High-Risk Acute Myeloid LeukemiaPhase 3 trial: Intermediate-dose Cytarabine in Combination with VenetoclaxThe First Hospital of Jilin University · Changchun, ChinaPhase 3Results expected 2026

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If you are looking for a relative

Here you will find questions you can ask, help with difficult talks, organisations for carers and your relative's rights.

Questions for your relative's doctor

How do I talk to them about this?

You do not need the right words. Ask what your relative wants to know, and let them set the pace. These pages can help.

Support for you as a carer

Looking after someone is work too. These organisations help carers, and the list further down this page shows helplines by country.

Organisations on this page

Power of attorney and patient rights, by country

A doctor can share information and a relative can act only with the patient's consent or a legal authority. It is easier to arrange this early.

If you are looking for your child

Children are often treated differently from adults, in specialist centres. Here is where to start.

Childhood cancer centres and parents' organisations

These European networks connect paediatric cancer centres and families.

Before you pay

Parents often receive offers of paid treatment. Please go through this list before you pay for anything.

Open the before-you-pay list

For patient organisations

You can share or print these pages for your members. They are free and need no account.

Apply for experimental treatment or a research study

The trial team decides who can take part; your doctor can help you ask.

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Latest news

Results, new trials and publications, newest first. Every item links to its source.

Results and new studies, newest first, in plain words.

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New and changed trials of the last 30 days, without an account and without tracking.

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Tools for your next step

Questions for your doctor

Pick up to 5 questions for your situation, then print them or take them on your phone.

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Five questions that help you check the answer.

See the five questions
If the treatment is not working

If the treatment has stopped working, or you were told there are no more options, here is what you can ask and where you can look next.

Do not stop or put off treatment without talking to your doctor.

Questions for this situation

Trials for people who have already been treated

Many trials look specifically for people who have already had treatment. Registries mark these with words like "previously treated", "refractory" or "relapsed". The trial team decides who can take part.

What a phase 1 trial is for

A phase 1 trial mainly tests whether a new medicine is safe and which dose can be given. It is not built to show that the medicine works.

In cancer, older figures show that fewer than 1 in 20 people in a phase 1 trial respond. Many people expect far more, so ask openly: what can I expect, and what will it mean for my daily life?

Compassionate use

Some medicines not yet approved can be given outside a trial when there is no other option. This does not exist for every medicine or in every country. Your doctor makes the request, and the authority or the manufacturer decides.

A second opinion

Asking for a second opinion is normal and does not mean you distrust your doctor. Take your results and a list of your treatments with you. For rare diseases, your doctor can also ask a European Reference Network.

Palliative care

This is care for symptoms and quality of life, and you can have it alongside cancer treatment. It does not mean anyone has given up on you. In a randomised trial in advanced lung cancer, palliative care from early on improved quality of life.

Before you pay

In this situation many people receive offers of paid treatment. Go through this list before you pay for anything.

Open the before-you-pay list

If this feels too heavy right now

You can talk to someone. In Hungary and in the UK, 116 123 is a free line for emotional support, day and night. The list on this page shows helplines in other countries.

Not medical advice. Talk to your care team before you change anything in your treatment.

Organisations that can help

Helplines, patient groups and support services for you and your family.

Select your country to see the organisations there, starting with the ones closest to you.

Umbrella organisations (they connect national groups)

General support

For anyone who is ill, whatever the disease: patients' rights and legal aid, crisis lines, hospice and palliative care, care in another EU country, and patient organisations' umbrella bodies.

International

Frontlight is not affiliated with these organisations; we list them because they help.

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Find fellow researchers

Groups with active Acute myeloid leukemia work.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Houston, United States

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Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College

Beijing, China

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Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Boston, United States

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Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

New York, United States

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Moffitt Cancer Center

Tampa, United States

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Harvard University

Cambridge, United States

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University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, United States

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Mayo Clinic

Rochester, United States

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Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Seattle, United States

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City Of Hope National Medical Center

Duarte, United States

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Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital

Tianjin, China

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