Final answer:
Acute leukemia can develop from treatment with alkylating agents, which are chemicals that alter DNA by adding alkyl groups, creating coding errors and potentially damaging healthy cells alongside cancer cells.
Step-by-step explanation:
Acute leukemia may develop from treatment with alkylating agents. These pharmaceuticals operate by adding methyl or other alkyl groups onto DNA molecules, particularly guanine, resulting in miscoding of DNA due to improper base pairing. Alkylating agents are comprised of several groups, including nitrogen mustards, ethylenimines, alkylsulfonates, triazenes, piperazines, and nitrosoureas. A well-known example of an alkylating agent used in chemotherapy is cyclophosphamide. Although it is effective in targeting cancer cells, alkylating agents can also inadvertently damage healthy cells and tissues.
Chronic leukemia is characterized by an accumulation of mature leukocytes that do not die off, whereas acute leukemia involves the rapid production of immature leukocytes that fail to function properly. Combination chemotherapy, which employs multiple drugs with distinct mechanisms to hinder resistance, has been a successful approach in treating certain types of leukemia, such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).