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What is Acute lymphoblastic leukemia?

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What is Acute lymphoblastic leukemia?

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia: Cancer of the white blood cells. Precursors to white blood cells are called blasts and are made by the bone marrow but in ALL the blasts are abnormal and do not develop into lymphocytes. Instead, the abnormal blasts or leukemic cells multiply rapidly and reduce the level of other types of blood cells such as red blood cells and platelets.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia: Leukemia with an acute onset, characterized by the presence of lymphoblasts or Burkitt cells in the bone marrow and the peripheral blood. It includes the precursor B lymphoblastic leukemia, precursor T lymphoblastic leukemia, and Burkitt's leukemia.
Source - Diseases Database
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia: acute leukemia characterized by proliferation of immature lymphoblast-like cells in bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen, and blood; most common in children.
Source - WordNet 2.1

Ophanet, a consortium of European partners, currently defines a condition rare when it affects 1 person per 2,000. They list Acute lymphoblastic leukemia as a "rare disease".
Source - Orphanet

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia: Introduction