Leukemia is a type of cancer which involves your blood cells and bone marrow. In this type of cancer, your body’s blood-forming matters do not work properly, which causes your body to produce excess white blood cells which are also non-functional.

The types of leukemia can be classified by their development and how quickly it worsens. There are mainly two types of leukemia, namely acute, which is fast growing in nature, and chronic, which is slow-growing in nature.

1. Acute leukemia
Acute leukemia mainly produces immature and unhelpful blood cells in your bone marrow and decreases the ability of the helpful blood cells to form. There are also two types of leukemia in this category. They are ALL (acute lymphocytic leukemia) and AML (acute myeloid leukemia).

• ALL (acute lymphocytic leukemia)

Now, this type of leukemia progresses at a rapid rate by replacing the helpful blood cells which produce functional lymphocytes that are immature. This is one of the most common types of leukemia and it mainly occurs in young children. However, it can also occur in adults as well.

• AML (acute myeloid leukemia)

This type of leukemia also progresses rapidly like other acute types and also known as acute myelogenous leukemia. It generally occurs in adults, but can also occur in young children. This type of leukemia has several symptoms like pain in the joints, severe fever, and difficulty breathing.

2. Chronic Leukemia
This is one of the most common types of leukemia. It progresses comparatively slower than acute leukemia; it produces more mature and useful cells. In other words, it does not replace helpful blood cells rapidly like the acute ones. Sometimes, it does not have any early symptoms, which can lead it to be undiagnosed for a long period.

• CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia)
  It is a type of leukemia that is slow-growing in nature and starts with lymphocytes in your bone marrow and finally ends into your blood. It might escalate in many organs such as your liver and spleen. It does not have any early symptoms, so you might feel well during the first several years without any clinical treatments.
• CML (Chronic Myeloid Leukemia)

This, too, is a type of slow-progressing leukemia. It mainly starts with blood-creating cells of your bone marrow. These blood cells spread all over your blood over time. For the very first few days, there are no noticeable symptoms. However, when it starts to grow rapidly, some symptoms are observed.

3. Uncommon types of leukemia
These rare types of leukemia only occur in a few people. This type of leukemia includes HCL, also known as hairy cell leukemia, and MDS, myelodysplastic syndrome.  The risks involved in chronic types of leukemia are very dangerous for you, as it generally shows no symptoms in the early years and can also spread very rapidly.