Risks and causes for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)
Your risk of developing cancer depends on many things. These can include environmental, lifestyle and genetic factors.
We don’t know what causes most cases of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). But there are some factors that may increase your risk of developing it. These include certain genetic conditions, previous chemotherapy treatment and ionising radiation.
The information on this page is about the risks and causes of adult ALL. You can find out more about the risks and causes for cancer in children in the link below.
What is a risk factor?
Anything that can increase your risk of getting a disease is called a risk factor.
Different cancers have different risk factors. Having one or more of these risk factors doesn't mean you will definitely get that cancer.
Risk factors for ALL include:
Genetic conditions
Some rare, inherited conditions can increase the risk of acute leukaemia, including:
-
Down’s syndrome
-
Fanconi anaemia
-
ataxia telangiectasia
-
Bloom syndrome
Having a genetic condition does not mean you will definitely get leukaemia. The risk is still small.
Previous treatment with chemotherapy
People who have had certain chemotherapy in the past have a slightly increased risk of developing leukaemia some years later.
It's important to remember that this risk is still very small compared to the risk to your health if the cancer had not been treated. Chemotherapy is an important treatment for many different types of cancer.
Ionising radiation exposure
High energy (ionising) radiation can cause cancer because it can affect your cells and damage the 
.
Radiotherapy treatment for cancer uses ionising radiation. Research suggests that children who have had radiotherapy have a slightly increased risk of developing leukaemia later in life. When considering treatment, doctors make sure that the benefits outweigh the risks.
Other possible causes
There are often stories about potential causes in the media. It isn’t always clear which ideas are supported by evidence. There might be things you have heard of that we haven’t included here. This is because either there is no evidence about them or it is less clear.
Reducing your risk
Not all cancers can be prevented but there are things you can do to reduce your general risk of developing cancer.
These include not smoking and keeping a healthy weight.
