A member asked:

Why does the risk of acute leukemia increase with age?

A doctor has provided 1 answer
Dr. Matthew Fero answered

Specializes in Medical Oncology

Mutations accumulate: ... during our lifetime in bone marrow stem cells. Like all cancers, leukemia typically requires multiple unlucky mutations to occur in a single cell. With age the chance of a stem cell getting the right combination of mutations goes up exponentially. When we begin life, as a single cell embryo, we start off with a clean slate, free of somatic mutations.

Answered 4/23/2018

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