The first published description of a case of leukemia in medical literature dates to 1827 , when French physician Alfred @-@ Armand @-@ Louis @-@ Marie Velpeau described a 63 @-@ year @-@ old florist who developed an illness characterized by fever , weakness , urinary stones , and substantial enlargement of the liver and spleen . Velpeau noted the blood of this person had a consistency " like gruel " , and speculated the appearance of the blood was due to white corpuscles . In 1845 , a series of people who died with enlarged spleens and changes in the " colors and consistencies of their blood " was reported by the Edinburgh @-@ based pathologist J.H. Bennett ; he used the term " leucocythemia " to describe this pathological condition .