Over one million Americans in the United States are living with or have been diagnosed with leukemia. This is a large amount of people. I chose to do my research paper on leukemia because I lost my grandmother to cancer two years ago. I wanted to know more about the disease and what was happening to her. I researched the different types, risk factors, symptoms, treatment, and what kind of research is being done to help cure leukemia. Leukemia is a cancer of the blood cells that begin in the bone marrow. During leukemia the bone marrow begins to produce many abnormal white blood cells or “leukemia cells.” There are four main different types of leukemia. It is grouped based on how quickly it spreads and the type of white blood cells it affects. The group of speed at which leukemia spreads is acute or chronic. Acute leukemia worsens more quickly and can make a person feel sick right away. Where chronic leukemia worsens slowly and may not cause symptoms for years. The group of blood cells affected by leukemia are lymphatic or myeloid. Lymphocytic leukemia affects white blood cells called lymphocytes. Where myeloid leukemia affects white blood cells called myelocytes. When the two groups join together they form four main types of leukemia. They are acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic lymphoblastic leukemia (CLL), and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Each type is different in its own way, but experts still don't know for sure what causes leukemia. Although the causes of leukemia are not known, there are still risk factors that can cause the disease. Some include large amounts of radiation, certain chemicals, Down syndrome or other genetic problems, and smoking. Some types of...... middle of paper......ment. They are also trying to find new ways to improve the quality of life. Another way is to test new targeted therapies, biologic therapies, and chemotherapy. Ultimately they are trying various treatment combinations to find the perfect one that will hopefully cure the leukemia for good. I chose to do my research project on leukemia because it is the type of cancer to which I lost my grandmother. I wanted to know more about the disease because I was confused about it and when we talked about it I didn't understand what everyone was saying. I learned what leukemia is and how to treat it. I also learned about the different types of leukemia, the risk factors, the symptoms, and what research is being done to cure leukemia. I'm really happy that I treated leukemia for my project because now I know what my grandmother went through and I feel closer to her now.