GC: n

S: WHO – http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2007/np19/en/ (last access: 18 November 2014); NCI – http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/leukemia. (last access: 18 November 2014).

N: 1. 1851, on model of German Leukämie (1848), coined by R. Virchow from Greek leukos “clear, white” + haima “blood”.
2. A progressive, malignant disease of the blood-forming organs, characterized by distorted proliferation and development of leukocytes and their precursors in the blood and bone marrow. It is classified according to degree of cell differentiation as acute or chronic (terms no longer referring to duration of disease), and according to predominant type of cell involved as myelogenous or lymphocytic.
3. Leukemia, a cancer of the blood-forming tissues characterized by a large increase in the numbers of white blood cells (leukocytes) in the circulation or bone marrow. A number of different leukemias are classified according to the course of the disease and the predominant type of white blood cell involved. Some types of leukemia have been related to radiation exposure, as noted in the Japanese population exposed to the first atomic bomb at Hiroshima; other evidence suggests hereditary susceptibility.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=leukemia&searchmode=none. (lasst access: 18 November 2014). 2. DORLAND p. 1026. 3. EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/337713/leukemia (last access: 26 November 2014).

OV: leukaemia (UK)

S: http://www.patient.co.uk/health/leukaemia-a-general-overview (last access: 26 November 2014); GDT; TERMIUMPLUS.

SYN:
S:

CR: cancer, carcinoma, hepatitis, lymphoma, sarcoma, stem cell transplant, tumor.