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.
Common leukemia signs and symptoms include: Fever or chills. Persistent fatigue, weakness. Frequent or severe infections.
Doctors consider any platelet count above 450,000 platelets per mcL to be high and define this as thrombocytosis. In contrast, they consider any platelet count below 150,000 platelets per mcL low, referring to this as thrombocytopenia. Having a low platelet count could mean a person has leukemia.
Blood Tests
A low level of red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets may indicate that the lymphoma is present in the bone marrow and/or blood. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). This test is done to determine the rate at which the red blood cells settle to the bottom of a tube.
Some signs of leukemia, like night sweats, fever, fatigue and achiness, resemble flu-like symptoms. Unlike symptoms of the flu, which generally subside as patients get better, leukemia symptoms generally last longer than two weeks, and may include sudden weight loss, bone and joint pain and easy bleeding or bruising.
Blood tests are essential to accurate diagnosis of this complex disease. These tests can show whether you have leukemia cells or abnormal levels of normal cells: Blood smear: With this test, we take a drop of blood and look at it under a microscope.
In cancer care, this blood test can be used to help diagnose a cancer or monitor how cancer or its treatment is affecting your body. For example, people undergoing chemotherapy often receive regular CBCs. In cancer care, a CBC is used to: Help diagnose some blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma.
Leukemia is most often diagnosed through a diagnostic test called a complete blood count (CBC). If a patient's CBC shows abnormal levels of white blood cells or abnormally low red blood cells or platelets, he or she has leukemia.
Blood tests are essential to accurately diagnosing this complex disease. These tests can show whether you have lymphoma cells or abnormal levels of normal cells: Blood smear: We take a drop of blood and look at it under a microscope.
Certain cancers such as leukemia or lymphoma can lower your platelet count. The abnormal cells in these cancers can crowd out healthy cells in the bone marrow, where platelets are made. Less common causes of a low platelet count include: Cancer that spreads to the bone.
At the time of diagnosis, patients can have very, very high white blood cell counts. Typically a healthy person has a white blood cell count of about 4,000-11,000. Patients with acute or even chronic leukemia may come in with a white blood cell count up into the 100,000-400,000 range.
A normal or expected WBC range in a patient with leukemia is difficult to determine. “There is no true 'normal' range for leukemia,” said Tara Graff, DO, MS, a medical oncologist with Mission Cancer and Blood in Des Moines, Iowa. “The WBC can be low in leukemia and very, very high.
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.
If a person appears pale, has enlarged lymph nodes, swollen gums, an enlarged liver or spleen, significant bruising, bleeding, fever, persistent infections, fatigue, or a small pinpoint rash, the doctor should suspect leukemia. A blood test showing an abnormal white cell count may suggest the diagnosis.
Stage 1 – A patient has high levels of white blood cells and enlarged lymph nodes. Stage 2 – A patient has high levels of white blood cells and is anemic. He or she may also have enlarged lymph nodes. Stage 3 – A patient has high levels of white blood cells and is anemic.
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.
While leukemia bruises can form anywhere on the body, they are most commonly found on the arms and legs.
If caught early, leukemia can be cured by undergoing several cancer treatments.
Produced in your bone marrow, they defend your body against infections and disease. But, when there are too many white blood cells, it usually means you have infection or inflammation in your body. Less commonly, a high white blood cell count could indicate certain blood cancers or bone marrow disorders.
Swelling of lymph nodes or glands in the neck, under the arms, or in the groin. This is a common symptom that people with CLL usually notice first. The enlarged lymph nodes are not usually painful. Discomfort or fullness in the upper left part of the abdomen, caused when the spleen increases in size.
Doctors sometimes use imaging tests including chest x-rays, ultrasound, CT scans, MRI, and PET scans to determine whether leukemia cells have affected the bones or organs such as the kidneys, the brain, or the lymph nodes. In addition, a physical exam is an important part of diagnosis for leukemia.