Short answers, pulled from the story.
Rudolf Virchow coined the term leukemia in 1845 to describe the high white blood cell count visible under a microscope. The term derives from the Greek words leukos meaning white and haima meaning blood.
In 1855, pathologist Franz Ernst Christian Neumann discovered that the bone marrow of leukemia patients appeared dirty green-yellow instead of red. This observation proved the root of the disease lay within the marrow itself rather than in the blood vessels.
Researchers Emil J. Freireich Jr. and Emil Frei III used combination chemotherapy to treat leukemia in 1962. Their tests were successful with some people surviving long after the treatment.
The Philadelphia translocation is a genetic abnormality discovered in 1960 involving the exchange of genetic material between chromosomes 9 and 22. This mutation results in the formation of the BCR-ABL gene found in 95% of people with chronic myelogenous leukemia.
Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 causes adult T-cell leukemia by immortalizing infected T-cells and giving them the ability to proliferate abnormally. The virus is transmitted through blood, sexual contact, and breastfeeding and is endemic in Japan, the Caribbean, and parts of Africa.
The five-year survival rate for leukemia in children under 15 is greater than 60% or even 90% depending on the type of leukemia. The average five-year survival rate is 68% in the United States.