UK football captain diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia

Stiliyan Petrov, captain of the UK football club Aston Villa, has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. The Bulgarian national is just 32 years old.

According to the Telegraph, Petrov developed a fever last week. After undergoing a bone marrow scan, the team's medical staff made the diagnosis. He has already chemotherapy treatments, which together with standard care will likely require several months to complete.

At that age, Petrov is extraordinarily young to have received this diagnosis, joining no more than about 200 people per year in the United Kingdom that age with the same diagnosis. Typically, AML is diagnosed in people over the age of 60, and is often a disease that has transformed from MDS, or myelodysplastic syndromes.

Acute myeloid leukemia is considered a curable disease, but in order to have a chance at cure the disease generally must be caught early. Furthermore, the patient's age and general health prior to developing the disease weighs heavily on prognosis. Thus experts consulted by the Telegraph believe Petrov's chances are good at a full recovery.

Source: The Telegraph