Children and adults treated for other cancers with certain chemotherapy drugs have a
higher risk of getting a second cancer, usually AML, later in life. Drugs such as
cyclophosphamide, chlorambucil, etoposide, and teniposide have been linked to a higher
risk of leukemia. These leukemias usually develop within 5 to 10 years of treatment, and
they tend to be hard to treat.
Exposure to chemicals such as benzene (a solvent used in the cleaning industry and to
manufacture some drugs, plastics, and dyes) may cause acute leukemia in adults and,
rarely, in children. Chemical exposure is more strongly linked to an increased risk of
AML than to ALL.