Symptoms & Diagnosis of Leukemia Leukemia / Blood Cancer

Symptom

Like all blood cells, leukemia cells travel through the body. Symptoms of leukemia depend on the number of leukemia cells and where these cells accumulate in the body.

People with chronic leukemia may not have symptoms. People with acute leukemia usually go to their doctor because they feel sick. If the brain is affected, they may have headaches, vomiting, confusion, loss of muscle control, or seizures. Leukemia also can affect other parts of the body such as the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, lungs, heart, or testes.

Common symptoms of chronic or acute leukemia may include:

• Swollen lymph nodes (in the neck or armpit), which usually does not hurt
• Fever or night sweats
• Frequent infections
• Feeling weak or tired
• Bleeding and bruising easily (bleeding gums, purplish patches in the skin, or tiny red spots under the skin)
• Swelling or discomfort in the abdomen (as the liver / pancreas swelling)
• Drastic weight loss without apparent cause
• Pain in the bones or joints

If you find these symptoms, be sure to consult your doctor immediately to be diagnosed and treated as early as possible.

Diagnosis

Doctors sometimes find leukemia in routine blood tests. If you have symptoms that lead to leukemia, your doctor will try to determine the cause and ask about your family's medical history.

You may undergo one or more of the following tests:

• Physical Examination: The doctor will check for swelling of the lymph nodes, spleen, or liver.
• Blood tests: The lab does a complete blood count to check the number of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. Leukemia causes white blood cell count was very high. Also often found low levels of platelets and hemoglobin in red blood cells.
• Biopsy: A biopsy is the only sure way to know whether leukemia cells are in your bone marrow. This requires a local anesthetic to help ease the pain. The doctor will take some bone marrow from the hipbone or another large bone. There are two common ways:
• Bone marrow aspiration: use a thick hollow needle, bone marrow was collected
• Bone marrow biopsy: use a very thick hollow needle to remove a small piece of bone and bone marrow.

Other Examination

Cytogenetics: The lab will examine the chromosomes of the cell samples of blood, bone marrow, or lymph nodes. If abnormal chromosomes are found, the test can indicate the type of leukemia you have. For example, people with CML have an abnormal chromosome called the Philadelphia chromosome.

Spinal Tap: Your doctor can take a couple of cerebrospinal fluid (the fluid that fills the spaces in and around the brain and spinal cord). The doctor uses a long, thin needle to remove fluid from the lower spine. This procedure takes about 30 minutes and is performed under local anesthesia. You must lie flat for several hours afterward to keep from getting a headache. The lab checks the fluid to examine the leukemia cells or other signs of trouble.

Chest X-ray: X-ray can show swollen lymph nodes or other signs of disease in your chest