Chronic leukemia has the potential to progress into acute leukemia.
Typically, in cases of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), the disease may reach an advanced stage where patients develop acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
CML is generally categorized into three phases: the chronic phase, the accelerated phase, and the blast crisis phase.
In the advanced stages of CML, when the bone marrow contains 20% or more blast cells, and the peripheral blood shows 30% or more myeloblasts plus promyelocytes, along with the presence of extramedullary blast cell infiltration, it is considered that the CML has transformed into an acute phase.
When CML progresses to acute leukemia, the prognosis for patients is often poor. While chemotherapy can be used as a treatment, the majority of patients may succumb to the disease within a few months.