How common is acute myeloid leukemia and is it seen more commonly in certain groups of people?

How common is AML and is it seen more commonly in certain groups of people? Well, in many respects, AML is an equal opportunity offender, unfortunately, for all concerned. There are some differences by gender and differences in races for certain subtypes of leukemias, but they are not so dramatic as you might find in other cancers like myeloma, different blood cancer. So, AML in general is a very rare disease. However, we do see it more commonly in older individuals and also in people who have been exposed to certain chemicals and chemotherapy. More and more we're seeing people who have been cured of one cancer, and the chemotherapy that they received to cure that cancer has caused damage to early blood cells in the bone marrow and years later can manifest as AML.