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Leukemia Symptoms & Diagnosis

Leukemia is a condition that creates an abnormally high amount of white blood cells that are unable to do their job of disease prevention. These cells become cancerous and continue to multiply. It is important to diagnose leukemia as early as possible before the cancerous cells begin to spread to the internal organs. Leukemia is treated with a combination of chemotherapy medication, radiation treatment, and a bone marrow transplant.

  1. Flu-Like Symptoms

    • Some of the more common symptoms of leukemia are flu-like symptoms. These include a high fever, sweating, chills, and a general achy feeling. The fever is an indication of a bacterial infection which would also cause symptoms such as a runny nose and a headache. It is also possible to feel a general feeling of fatigue or weakness that may be accompanied by a loss of appetite.

    Lumps and Swelling

    • Leukemia also creates lumps as a symptom. In some cases these lumps are clearly visible, and in other cases they can be felt but not seen. The most common places for lumps to appear are the abdomen, the groin, the underarm area, and around the eyes. These lumps are painless. Pain may occur in areas accompanied by swelling. In some cases of leukemia the liver or the spleen may enlarge, and this would cause painful swelling just under the rib cage closer to the back.

    Coughing

    • Leukemia causes lymph nodes in your neck and chest to start swelling. This swelling may be noticeable and should be considered a symptom. Swelling lymph nodes in the chest and neck may also cause a chronic cough, and it could also cause shortness of breath even from the more remedial of physical activities.

    Blood Test

    • A blood test is commonly performed to diagnose leukemia. The blood test results are analyzed for white blood cell count, red blood cell count and platelet count. Leukemia will cause an abnormally high white blood cell count, an abnormally low count of platelets and a low count of red blood cells. To diagnose leukemia the white blood cell count and platelet count are primarily used.

    Bone Marrow Aspiration

    • The bone marrow needs to be analyzed to properly diagnose leukemia. To extract the bone marrow needed for testing a bone marrow aspiration is used. A large needle is injected directly into the bone marrow and a sample is taken. In some cases a bone marrow biopsy may be done which is the process of taking a marrow sample and an actual bone sample. There may also be a spinal tap done to see if the leukemia has spread to the spinal fluid and made its way to the brain. A spinal tap is done with a long needle at the base of the spine.

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