It is always difficult trying to make predictions about the likely outcome for an individual person at the time their leukaemia is first diagnosed. Information about the outcome of treatments is based on results from large groups of patients. Your doctors will be able to tell you how 100 similar patients responded to treatment X, or what happened to 100 patients with disease Y. But what you want to know what is likely to happen to you. Unfortunately no doctor can give you a precise prediction, and this uncertainty can be very difficult to deal with.

For acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), as for most conditions, there have been studies looking at various things that can help predict who is going to do well and who is going to do poorly. Some of the things these studies have shown affect the likelihood of getting a complete remission with treatment, and some effect how likely it is that that remission will be permanent, and lead to a cure.

Some of the factors that affect the chances of achieving complete remission to initial therapy include, your age, genetic changes within the leukaemia cells, the white blood cell count, the presence of drug resistance proteins, the development of AML from a previous marrow disorder (like myelodysplasia, MDS), and your general health.

Things which can affect whether the remission is likely to be permanent, or whether their is a risk of relapse, include the genetic changes in the leukaemic cell, the time taken to achieve a complete remission, the white blood cell count at the time of diagnosis, your age and more specialised tests looking at the growth pattern of the leukaemia and proteins, called markers, which may be present on the surface of the leukaemic cells.

Clearly this is a very complicated area with many variables, some of which are more important than others. But your specialist can look at the results in your own case and from these can give you some guidance as to what to expect. But do remember that even when your doctor has weighed up all the evidence, the best they can offer is still only a forecast of what might happen, and not a guarantee of what will happen.