To rule out leukemia, you need a medical evaluation starting with a Complete Blood Count (CBC), which checks blood cell numbers, followed by a peripheral blood smear to see cell appearance; if suspicious, a doctor will order more specific tests like flow cytometry, imaging (X-ray, CT, MRI), and often a bone marrow biopsy and/or lumbar puncture for definitive diagnosis, as leukemia involves abnormal white blood cells and their precursors in blood and marrow.
Common leukemia signs and symptoms include:
Blood tests are just the first step of many in diagnosing and monitoring leukemia. Your doctor orders blood tests to look for the presence of abnormalities. They also evaluate your white blood cell, red blood cell, and platelet counts. These tests give your doctor information about leukemia type.
Doctors diagnose leukemia through a bone marrow biopsy. This involves using a long needle to take bone marrow from the hip. Successful leukemia treatment begins with an accurate and precise diagnosis.
Slower growing leukaemias such as chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) may cause no symptoms in the early stages. They may be discovered by chance after a routine blood test.
Leukemia symptoms include: Weakness, tiredness and fatigue. This can be caused by the leukemia itself or by the low levels of hemoglobin seen in many leukemia patients. Fever and frequent infections due to low counts of healthy white blood cells.
Some people with leukemia or myelodysplastic syndromes have bone or joint pain. This bone pain is most often felt in the long bones of the arms and legs, in the ribs, and in the breastbone.
In the initial stages of diagnosing acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), your GP will check for physical signs of the condition and arrange for you to have blood tests. A high number of abnormal white blood cells, or a very low blood count in the test sample, could indicate leukaemia.
Leukemia is commonly misdiagnosed as the following conditions:
Leukemia symptoms commonly include:
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is often a silent disease during the initial stages, with many patients having no noticeable symptoms. CLL is commonly detected by accident when routine blood testing reveals an elevated lymphocyte count (lymphocytosis).
Bone marrow test.
Your doctor may recommend a procedure to remove a sample of bone marrow from your hipbone. The bone marrow is removed using a long, thin needle. The sample is sent to a laboratory to look for leukemia cells.
It is more severe and is often described as an overwhelming exhaustion that cannot be overcome with a good night's rest. Some people may also describe it as constantly feeling physically weak, drained or have difficulty concentrating (“brain fog”).
Leukemia starts in the soft, inner part of the bones (bone marrow), but often moves quickly into the blood. It can then spread to other parts of the body, such as the lymph nodes, spleen, liver, central nervous system, and other organs.
You can have chronic lymphocytic leukemia without symptoms. It may take months to years before you notice CLL symptoms.
Demographics – While anyone can conceivably develop leukemia, white males are statistically most susceptible.
Myelodysplastic syndrome refers to a group of related disorders in which abnormal blood-forming cells develop in the bone marrow. At first, these cells interfere with the production of normal blood cells. Later, these cells may become cancerous, turning into a form of leukemia.
Reasons for Misdiagnosis of Leukemia
Leukemia can be misdiagnosed as other conditions with similar symptoms and warning signs. Misdiagnosis most frequently occurs because a medical professional fails to take symptoms seriously or neglects to perform the proper diagnostic tests for leukemia.
Complete blood count (CBC): This blood test lets your healthcare provider know if you have abnormal levels of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. If you have leukemia, you'll likely have higher than normal counts of white blood cells.
How Is Leukemia Treated? Your doctor will conduct a complete blood count (CBC) to determine if you have leukemia. This test may reveal if you have leukemic cells. Abnormal levels of white blood cells and abnormally low red blood cell or platelet counts can also indicate leukemia.
Though it's most commonly found on the arms and legs, a petechiae leukemia rash may also appear on the buttocks, the inside of the mouth or the eyelids. Though it looks like a rash of pinhead-sized spots, petechiae is actually a cluster of tiny bruises.
BMA/BMB procedures are regarded as the gold standard for diagnosing acute leukemia. These procedures enable a comprehensive evaluation of bone marrow morphology, including the blast percentage, cell lineage, and maturation stage.
In fact, according to our most recent patient survey, around 19% of leukaemia patients reported weight loss as a major symptom that lead to their diagnosis.
Acute leukemias — which are incredibly rare — are the most rapidly progressing cancer we know of. The white cells in the blood grow very quickly, over a matter of days to weeks. Sometimes a patient with acute leukemia has no symptoms or has normal blood work even a few weeks or months before the diagnosis.
Leukemia Treatment