Main Entry: leu·ke·mia

Pronunciation: \lü-ˈkē-mē-ə\

Variant(s): also leu·ce·mia \lü-ˈkē- also lü-ˈsē-\ or chiefly British leu·kae·mia also leu·cae·mia

Function: noun

: an acute or chronic disease of unknown cause in humans and other warm-blooded animals that involves the blood-forming organs, is characterized by an abnormal increase in the number of white blood cells in the tissues of the body with or without a corresponding increase of those in the circulating blood, and is classified according to the type of white blood cell most prominently involved—see acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myelogenous leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, feline leukemia, lymphoblastic leukemia, lymphocytic leukemia, monocytic leukemia, myelogenous leukemia, promyelocytic leukemia