What Is Myeloid Leukaemia? The Aggressive Cancer That Killed Former US President’s Granddaughter

AML is dangerous because its early symptoms often feel like flu or everyday exhaustion. (Representative image: Getty)

Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of former US President John F Kennedy, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 35 after a battle with acute myeloid leukaemia. An environmental journalist and climate activist, Schlossberg died fighting one of the most aggressive forms of blood cancer.

In an article published in November in The New Yorker titled “A Battle With My Blood,” Schlossberg revealed that she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in May 2024, shortly after delivering her second child. What began as routine blood tests following childbirth revealed an unusually high white blood cell count. Within hours, that anomaly led to a diagnosis no one expects at that age — a fast-moving and often unforgiving cancer that rarely strikes young adults.

In the essay, she reflected on the shock of her diagnosis, the brutality of the treatments, and the heartbreak of thinking about her young children growing up without her.

Schlossberg’s death has reignited conversations around acute myeloid leukaemia, a disease that often advances silently and is notoriously difficult to detect early. What makes it so aggressive? Which part of the body does it attack? And why does it so often go unnoticed until it is already advanced? Here’s what we know.

Myeloid leukaemia: A Cancer Deep Inside Bones

Myeloid leukaemia is a cancer that begins not in a bone or an organ, but deep inside the marrow of the bones, the factory where blood cells are produced.

In healthy bodies, the marrow produces red blood cells that carry oxygen, white blood cells that fight infection, and platelets that help stop bleeding. In acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), this careful balance collapses.

A genetic glitch in immature myeloid cells causes them to multiply rapidly and uncontrollably. These immature cells, called myeloblasts, flood the bloodstream, crowding out healthy cells and crippling the body’s ability to breathe, defend and heal.

Unlike many cancers with stages that stretch over years, AML is “acute” because it escalates quickly. Without treatment, it can be fatal in weeks or months. With treatment, remission remains a fragile achievement, and relapse is common.

Why AML Is So Dangerous

What makes acute myeloid leukaemia particularly deadly is its rapid pace and its assault on the body’s lifelines. The excess immature cells in the marrow crowd out healthy blood cells, leading to:

• Severe anaemia and fatigue
• Higher susceptibility to infections
• Easy or uncontrollable bleeding
• Organ distress due to lack of oxygen and immune protection

Some rare complications can even block small vessels and mimic stroke-like symptoms, a medical emergency in its own right.

Symptoms That Are Easy To Miss

What makes AML especially insidious is how easily its early signs can be mistaken for something else. Fatigue, low-grade fever, shortness of breath, paleness, bruises or bleeding gums are symptoms that can mimic flu or exhaustion, especially in busy adults juggling work and family.

As cancer cells disrupt normal blood production, the immune system weakens, and infections become frequent. Other signs include unexplained weight loss, bone pain and unusual bleeding.

Treatment Battles And A Rare Mutation

Once diagnosed, AML treatment becomes an intense race. It often begins with chemotherapy designed to wipe out cancerous cells, followed by attempts to reboot the bone marrow. For many patients, a stem cell transplant, often from a donor, offers the best hope for lasting remission.

Schlossberg underwent rounds of chemotherapy, two stem cell transplants and participated in clinical trials. Her doctors also identified a rare genetic variant of the disease known as inversion 3, which is typically seen in older patients and carries an especially poor prognosis.

Specialists describe this variant as one of the most aggressive forms of AML, difficult to bring under control and less responsive to available therapies.

Despite every available treatment, her medical team eventually shared that they could likely keep her alive for about a year, maybe.

AML is most common in adults over 60, and survival rates fall with age and disease severity. Younger patients can sometimes have better outcomes, but rare aggressive mutations like inversion 3 can push even vigorous bodies to the brink.

For Tatiana Schlossberg, the disease wasn’t just a clinical diagnosis — it was a story about love, loss and legacy. She wrote candidly about the guilt of leaving her family, the weight of her own mortality and the fragility of life.