leukaemia

British  

/ luːˈkiːmɪə /

noun

1. an acute or chronic disease characterized by a gross proliferation of leucocytes, which crowd into the bone marrow, spleen, lymph nodes, etc, and suppress the blood-forming apparatus

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Etymology

Origin of leukaemia

C19: from _leuco- + Greek haima blood

Example Sentences

Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at two years old, Dylan spent much of his early childhood undergoing intensive chemotherapy.

From BBC • Jan. 28, 2026

Seventeen years later, she was diagnosed with leukaemia, in a family where her grandmother, mother and aunt already suffered from thyroid cancer.

From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026

When Cross was diagnosed with leukaemia aged 24, she did not immediately blame the nuclear explosions in French Polynesia decades earlier.

From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026

Milly, who was being treated for leukaemia, was in remission at the time of her death.

From BBC • Jan. 19, 2026

The excess over the normal is in many cases small; it is said to be absent in some persons, and rarely, if ever reaches the quantity found in leukaemia.

From The Chemistry of Food and Nutrition by Duncan, A. W.