Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)

Childhood ALL is the most common type of childhood cancer. It’s a very treatable cancer in children and young adults. Treatment options are similar from one year old up to 24 years old.

Read more about childhood ALL

We don’t know exactly what causes childhood ALL, but some factors make it more likely, including:

• age
• sex
• family history

Find more about childhood ALL causes

Children and young adults with ALL may experience tiredness, breathlessness, bruise or bleed easily and get more infections.

Find more about childhood ALL symptoms

Your child will have a set of tests to confirm whether they have ALL or not. These will include blood tests, bone marrow tests and scans.

Learn more about childhood ALL tests

Childhood ALL is a very treatable cancer. Your child will follow a treatment plan involving chemotherapy drugs, steroids and other medicines. The exact treatment will depend on their individual condition, overall health and your wishes.

More information on childhood ALL treatment

Side effects are the unwanted effects of blood cancer treatment. Children have different responses to treatment and may not get every side effect. If your child has side effects, tell your healthcare team as they should be able to help.

Learn more about childhood ALL side effects

The prognosis for most children and young adults with ALL is good, with a very high chance of long-term survival.

Find out about the prognosis for childhood ALL

We have separate information for adult acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

Tackling childhood leukaemia is where we have some of our biggest research breakthroughs.