leukemia

noun

leu·​ke·​mia lü-ˈkē-mē-ə 

: an acute or chronic disease in humans and other warm-blooded animals characterized by an abnormal increase in the number of white blood cells in the tissues and often in the blood

leukemic

lü-ˈkē-mik 

adjective or noun

Examples of leukemia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Asma was diagnosed with leukemia in May of this year. —Timothy Nerozzi, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 26 Dec. 2024

There have been a handful of cases in which HIV infection was cured when the patient had a stem cell transplant that was necessary to treat a concurrent lymphoma or leukemia diagnosis, Dr. Aima Ahonkhai, an HIV researcher at Harvard University, told USA TODAY. —Kate S. Petersen, USA TODAY, 11 Dec. 2024

If the agency included the risk of developing myeloid leukemia in that calculation, that tiny concentration would be even smaller (0.023 micrograms). —Topher Sanders, ProPublica, 9 Dec. 2024

One Palestinian boy who had leukemia, Islam al-Rayahen, needed a stem cell transplant. —Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

New Latin

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing leukemia

• hairy cell leukemia
• lymphocytic leukemia
• myelogenous leukemia

Kids Definition

leukemia

noun

leu·​ke·​mia lü-ˈkē-mē-ə 

: a disease of warm-blooded animals including human beings that is a kind of cancer in which there is an abnormal increase in the number of white blood cells in the tissues and often in the blood

leukemic

-mik 

adjective

Medical Definition

leukemia

noun

leu·​ke·​mia lü-ˈkē-mē-ə 

variants also leucemia

lü-ˈkē- also lü-ˈsē-

or chiefly British leukaemia also leucaemia

: an acute or chronic disease of unknown cause in humans and other warm-blooded animals that involves the blood-forming organs, is characterized by an abnormal increase in the number of white blood cells in the tissues of the body with or without a corresponding increase of those in the circulating blood, and is classified according to the type of white blood cell most prominently involved see acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myelogenous leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, feline leukemia, lymphoblastic leukemia, lymphocytic leukemia, monocytic leukemia, myelogenous leukemia, promyelocytic leukemia