The bone marrow makes infection-fighting white blood cells, red blood cells that carry oxygen and platelets that help the blood clot. When leukemia cells crowd out these healthy blood cells, they can’t do their jobs properly.
Your health care provider can diagnose leukemia by doing a complete blood count and a lumbar puncture (spinal tap), which involves removing and testing fluid from around the spine. Other tests may include a bone marrow aspiration or biopsy and a MRI.
Leukemia begins in the bone marrow, the spongy interior of bones where blood cells are formed. The marrow makes blood cells that carry oxygen and nutrients to tissues throughout the body, fight infections and help stop bleeding by clotting. In leukemia, the marrow produces abnormal blood cells that do not grow or mature as normal cells do. The faulty blood cells crowd out healthy blood cells, which can cause problems such as anemia, infections and bleeding that does not clot.
There are many different types of leukemia. They are classified by the type of blood cell affected and whether it is acute or chronic. Acute leukemias affect immature blood cells, called blasts, that cannot perform their functions as normal cells do. The blasts are not able to produce enough healthy red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets. They also multiply too quickly, so the condition worsens fast.
Chronic leukemias affect more mature blood cells. They are less aggressive than acute leukemias and can go on for years before a person starts to feel sick.
Most people with leukemia have no known cause. But some people may be at higher risk because of their age, sex or other factors such as a genetic disorder. People who have had certain types of previous cancer treatment are also at increased risk for leukemia. The risk is greatest for people who have had chemotherapy and radiation therapy for other cancers. Exposure to high doses of radiation during nuclear accidents or to electromagnetic fields from power lines may also increase the risk for leukemia.
Doctors diagnose leukemia by ordering blood tests that show how well your immune system is functioning and how quickly your marrow is producing blood cells. The test results can tell your doctor if the leukemia is chronic or acute. Other tests that can help your doctor figure out what type of leukemia you have include a lumbar puncture (a procedure in which fluid is drawn from between the vertebrae in your lower back using a needle) and flow cytometry, a test that looks at the DNA of cells.
Many people who have leukemia do not show any symptoms at first. If they do, they are usually mild and resemble the flu or other common illnesses. Because of this, the cancer can be difficult to diagnose. People who have any of the symptoms should see a doctor right away. The doctor will take a blood sample to look for cancer cells and check the bone marrow. If the leukemia is diagnosed, the doctor will give a treatment plan.
Doctors classify leukemia based on the speed at which it progresses and the type of blood stem cell involved. Acute leukemia develops rapidly and causes many early symptoms, while chronic leukemia develops more slowly and may not produce any early signs.
Some people who have leukemia have a low count of healthy blood platelets (thrombocytopenia). This can lead to bleeding problems, especially nosebleeds and easy bruising. People with leukemia also may have a problem with their blood’s ability to carry oxygen (anemia). This can cause tiredness and difficulty breathing. Other symptoms depend on the type of leukemia a person has.
Kids with leukemia often get more viral and bacterial infections than other kids. These infections can cause a fever, runny nose and cough. They can also have trouble breathing if the leukemia cells crowd the bone marrow and prevent it from making enough normal white blood cells to fight infection. Some types of leukemia cause anemia, and this can make a child look pale and feel tired.
If leukemia cells spread to the liver or spleen, they can cause enlarged organs. These can be felt as a full feeling under the ribs on the left side of the body or as a swelling in the neck, armpit or groin. People with leukemia may also have a rash that looks like tiny red dots or purplish spots in the skin called petechiae.
Sometimes, doctors think a person has leukemia because of these symptoms or because blood tests show abnormal amounts of certain chemicals. To confirm the diagnosis, doctors take small samples of the bone marrow and lymph nodes to look for cancer cells. They can also take a biopsy of the liver or spleen to find out how far the cancer has spread. This is called staging.
A person is diagnosed with leukemia when a doctor sees signs and symptoms of the condition in a physical exam or lab tests. The signs and symptoms of leukemia include fatigue, fever, weight loss, swollen lymph nodes (under the arms or in the groin, chest or neck), trouble breathing and bleeding or bruising easily.
To diagnose leukemia, doctors take samples of blood and bone marrow to look for cancer cells. They can also find out if the leukemia has spread to other organs with imaging tests like CT or MRI scans.
Blood tests can show if you have an unusually high number of immature white blood cells. The doctor will ask about your health history and your family’s health to find out if you have any risk factors for leukemia. The first tests are a complete blood count (CBC) and a blood smear, which checks the numbers of different types of blood cells and looks for abnormal cells.
Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy are the next tests. A doctor uses a long needle to remove marrow from the hipbone and sends it to a lab to test for leukemia cells. This sample can also help determine the type of leukemia you have and how fast it’s growing.
Other lab tests, called cytogenetic testing, check for changes in the genes or chromosomes of the leukemia cells. This can help tell if the leukemia is acute or chronic, which affects your treatment options and outlook. One such cytogenetic test is fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), which finds certain abnormal gene or chromosome changes that are associated with specific subtypes of ALL.
Other lab tests can find out if the leukemia has grown faster than normal blood cells. These include a bone marrow aspiration paired with a flow cytometry analysis, which is a type of cell-counting method that can identify certain types of leukemia very quickly. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is another type of DNA test that can find some types of leukemia. This test is more sensitive than FISH and can find small numbers of leukemia cells.
The treatment your doctor recommends depends on the type of leukemia and your age and overall health. The goal of therapy is to achieve remission. Remission is when cancer cells can’t be detected in the blood or bone marrow.
UPMC cancer doctors use chemotherapy drugs to kill cancer cells and help your body make healthy new ones. Your treatment plan may also include radiation therapy, which uses high-energy beams to damage cancer cells and stop them from growing.
Other types of treatment include targeted therapy, which uses drugs that target specific parts of a cancer cell. These drugs may prevent the cancer cells from multiplying, cut off their blood supply or kill them directly. They can be given alone or with other treatments, such as a stem cell transplant.
Your doctor may order X-rays, ultrasounds or CT scans to look for signs of the disease in your organs and bones. They may also test a sample of spinal fluid (lumbar puncture) to see how the leukemia is affecting your nervous system.
The first part of your treatment is called the induction phase. Its aim is to get rid of any leukemia cells in your blood and bone marrow. This part of your treatment usually lasts a month. It is followed by a maintenance phase, during which less intense chemotherapy drugs are given over an extended period of time. This can take months to years to complete.
In some cases, your doctor will treat you with a combination of these therapies to give you the best chance of remission. They will also use palliative care to ease your symptoms and side effects.
Because relapse is common, it’s important to talk with your cancer doctor about the way you’re feeling and what support services are available. People with recurrent leukemia sometimes feel depressed, angry or anxious. If these feelings don’t go away, your doctor can refer you to a specialist who can help. It’s best to receive treatment at a medical center that has a team of specialists who regularly treat leukemia and are experienced in managing its complications.
Symptoms can vary depending on the type of leukemia. They may come on quickly (acute) or develop slowly over months or years (chronic).
Some kinds of leukemia cause a low platelet count, which can lead to easy bruising and bleeding. Others cause swollen lymph nodes in the armpit, groin or chest, which can press on the trachea and make breathing difficult.
Fatigue is a common leukemia symptom. This is because cancer treatment can make the body tired and reduce healthy blood cells that fight infections. Bruising and bleeding can also cause fatigue. The bruises are called petechiae and look like raised red, purple or brown spots on the skin. These bleed easily from anywhere on the body, including the gums and joints.
Depending on what type of leukemia you have, it can also affect your white blood cell levels. This can make you more likely to get infections or catch a cold. Low white blood cell levels can also cause you to feel very tired.
A doctor can check for symptoms of Leukemia with a physical exam and laboratory tests. Your doctor may also want to do a bone marrow biopsy to find out what kind of leukemia you have. You’ll be referred to a specialist, called a hematologist-oncologist, who has special training in diagnosing and treating blood cancers like leukemia.
In leukemia, white blood cells grow and multiply out of control. They don’t respond to the body’s signals that they should stop reproducing. The cancerous cells take over the bone marrow, which stops producing healthy red and white blood cells and platelets. This leads to fatigue, loss of appetite and other symptoms.
In some types of leukemia, the faulty cells clump together in organs like the kidneys, liver and spleen. They can also swell up the lymph nodes in the armpits, neck, groin and tummy (abdomen). Swollen lymph nodes usually feel painless but may cause a fullness or lumpiness under the skin.
The signs and symptoms of leukemia vary by type, how fast the cancer progresses and what kind of blood stem cell is affected. People are usually referred to a specialist called a hematologist-oncologist for diagnosis and treatment. They will perform a physical exam and a complete blood count to check for abnormalities in the number of red and white blood cells, platelets and other components of the blood.
Leukemia cells usually start in the bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside bones. Over time, the leukemia cells crowd out healthy blood stem cells and interfere with their normal function. This causes problems with the production of normal red blood cells, platelets (blood cells that help stop bleeding) and white blood cells that fight infection.
This can lead to anemia, which makes you feel tired and weak. It can also cause bruising and bleeding more easily. And you may have tiny red dots on the skin called petechiae. These are caused by small blood vessels that “leak” or bleed.
Shortness of breath is a common symptom of leukemia, but it can be hard to recognize because it’s not always clear when the problem starts. It’s often the first symptom that’s noticed after cancer treatment, when leukemia has returned after going into remission. You should let your doctor know if you’re having trouble breathing.
People with leukemia may bleed easily, either because they have not enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen or because the abnormal white blood cells interfere with normal clotting. This can lead to bruising and nosebleeds, easy or painful bleeding from the gums, and a distinctive rash called petechiae (small pinpoint-sized spots in the skin).
Bleeding is often caused by the buildup of cancer cells in the spleen and other organs that help filter blood. This can lead to enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, armpit, groin and chest and to a feeling of fullness or pressure in the abdomen.
X-rays, CT scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may show enlargement of lymph nodes, spleen or liver; a swollen thymus gland in the chest; and a condition known as thrombocytopenia, which is low platelet count. Blood tests can also indicate a low platelet count and other problems. A lumbar puncture (spinal tap) may be done to test for leukemia cells in the fluid around the spinal cord.
Fever is a common leukemia symptom, and it’s one of the first signs people often notice. It happens when cancer cells crowd out normal blood cells that are developing into red blood cells, platelets (cells that help blood clot) and white blood cells (cells that fight infection).
Kids with leukemia may get more viral or bacterial infections than other kids do because the many faulty white blood cells don’t fight infection properly. They can also develop anemia, which causes tiredness because the body doesn’t have as many oxygen-carrying red blood cells. They can bruise more easily because their platelet count is low, a condition called thrombocytopenia.
To diagnose leukemia, doctors order blood tests and imaging and other tests to see how far the disease has spread. They can also perform a spinal tap, or lumbar puncture, to test a sample of fluid from the area around the brain and spinal cord.
Pain is a common leukemia symptom and can be caused by a variety of things. It may be due to the enlarged liver or spleen from leukemia cells or it may be caused by a low platelet count, which can lead to easy bruising and bleeding, including nosebleeds and bloody gums.
In some cases, a type of leukemia called T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) causes the cancerous cells to clump around the thymus gland in your chest, which can cause chest pain and difficulty breathing. This is a medical emergency and you should seek immediate medical attention by calling 999 or going to the A&E department at your local hospital.
You may also experience a rash with tiny red spots on the skin, known as petechiae. These can be a sign of leukemia but they can also occur due to other conditions such as strep throat, rheumatic fever or certain medications like blood thinners or sedatives.
A loss of weight often happens because leukemia cells crowd out healthy blood cells that carry oxygen. They also prevent normal cells from absorbing nutrients. This can make you feel tired and weak. A low white blood cell count can lead to frequent infections that don’t go away. A lack of platelets (blood-clotting cells) may cause easy bruising, nosebleeds and bleeding gums. You may have red spots on your skin called petechiae or hematochezia (blood in the urine or stool). You may feel full after only a small meal and have swelling in your belly because cancer cells build up in your liver and spleen.
If you have any of these symptoms, see your doctor. These can be early signs of many types of cancer, including leukemia. It’s especially important to see your doctor if you have any new or severe headaches or other neurological problems. Also, any fever without a clear cause needs prompt evaluation.
When you have leukemia, cancerous blood cells multiply out of control and crowd out healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets in your bone marrow. They also spread to your bloodstream and attack other tissues and organs. Your doctor can diagnose leukemia by examining your blood and asking about your symptoms. He or she may also order a bone marrow biopsy to confirm the diagnosis.
There are many types of chemotherapy drugs and combinations that doctors use to treat leukemia. They can be taken as tablets that you swallow or given through a vein (intravenously) in your arm using a thin short tube called a catheter or tubing. Chemotherapy can cause serious side effects, including nausea, vomiting, hair loss and fatigue. You may also be at increased risk of infections. To help prevent infections, you may receive a treatment with a growth factor called granulocyte colony stimulating factor or G-CSF. This medicine helps your white blood cells return to normal faster after you have chemotherapy.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most common type of leukemia in children. It can be fatal if not treated quickly. The first step in treating acute leukemia is to kill the cancerous blood cells with intense chemotherapy. This usually requires hospitalization and frequent blood transfusions. You might also receive radiation therapy to destroy any remaining cancerous cells and reduce the chances of the leukemia coming back.
Once your white blood cell count is back to normal, you enter a second phase of treatment called consolidation. You continue to receive chemotherapy, but it is usually lower doses and more spread out over a longer period of time. During this phase, you may receive drugs such as doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide and methotrexate. You may also be given a drug that targets specific gene mutations found in your leukemia and blocks them from producing new cancer cells.
You might also receive a stem cell transplant, which replaces your cancerous bone marrow with healthy bone marrow cells. This is done after an intense chemotherapy regimen that kills your existing bone marrow and prepares your body for the transplant.
Leukemia cells grow out of control in your bone marrow, where most blood cells are made. Unlike some cancers, they do not form a tumor that shows up on imaging tests, like X-rays or CT scans. Radiation therapy uses power beams of energy to kill cancer cells in your bone marrow or blood. Depending on your type of leukemia, radiation can be used alone or in combination with chemotherapy. You will be positioned on a treatment table while a machine called a linear accelerator delivers high-energy radiation to the area being treated. The treatment session usually lasts a few minutes each day. A radiographer operates the machine and watches you from outside of the room through a window or on closed circuit television. Radiation treatments can cause side effects, which your doctor will discuss with you. You may be able to continue working during radiation therapy, but you will likely feel tired and weak for several weeks or more.
Your doctor will decide on a treatment plan after you meet with a radiation oncologist and hematologist who specialize in leukemia. You will talk about the benefits and risks of each treatment option. Many patients with leukemia are able to achieve remission and remain disease-free for a long time.
A remission is when your blood cell counts return to normal levels, and there are no leukemia cells in the body. The length of remission varies among the different types of leukemia. After a period of time, you may need a stem cell transplant to prevent the leukemia from returning (recurring).
Chemotherapy drugs are the most common treatment for leukemia. These drugs can destroy cancer cells or slow their growth, and they can also help relieve symptoms. Several types of chemotherapy drugs are available, and your doctor will use the one that is most appropriate for you.
If you have a type of leukemia that has recurred, your doctor may suggest surgery to remove your spleen, an organ in the abdomen that filters blood as it flows through your lymph vessels. Some people who have recurrent chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and have few symptoms might be able to avoid surgery by having their cancer monitored closely.
A stem cell transplant replaces your damaged blood-forming cells and helps you recover from the high doses of chemotherapy and radiation used to treat leukemia. It is an option for adults with certain types of lymphoma and leukemia and for multiple myeloma. A stem cell transplant can also improve the success of some chemotherapy treatments for some patients by allowing your body’s immune system to more effectively attack cancer cells that survive high-dose chemotherapy.
Before your transplant, your healthcare team will do a test called a hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC) transplant to find out if you are a candidate for transplant. They will do this by looking at the chromosomes and genes in your leukemia cells. Certain changes in a leukemia’s chromosomes and genes predict how likely it is to come back (relapse).
If you are a good candidate for a stem cell transplant, your health care team will collect the healthy cells from your bloodstream or bone marrow. If they are collected from your bloodstream, the procedure is called peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). If your stem cells are collected from your bone marrow, the procedure is called autologous stem cell transplantation. They will either get these stem cells from a family member who is a match or from an unrelated donor whose tissue type matches yours. They will then freeze the stem cells and store them until you need them.
After you’ve received pre-transplant treatment, which usually takes 5 to 7 days, your health care team will give you the stem cells through a central line. This is a tube that runs through a large vein in your chest until it reaches your heart. It makes it easier for your healthcare team to give you medications and blood products.
The donor stem cells will go into your bloodstream through the central line, and then into your bones where they will begin to produce new blood cells. It may take a few weeks for the blood-forming stem cells to start producing healthy red and white blood cells and platelets. You’ll need to stay in the hospital for several weeks while this happens, and you will be given medication to protect you from infections and other complications.
Your doctor will design a treatment plan that’s right for you, depending on the type and stage of leukemia, your age and symptoms, and whether it’s acute or chronic. If you have acute leukemia, your doctor may recommend treatment that begins right away to destroy cancer cells and stop them from spreading in your body. Acute leukemia usually requires a combination of chemotherapy drugs, and often radiation and surgery are also needed to treat the area where the cancer has collected.
In some cases, doctors may delay starting treatment until a few weeks after you have first noticed symptoms, especially in young children with acute leukemia. This is called active monitoring and involves evaluating blood tests to watch for signs of cancer, such as low red and white blood cell counts or enlargement of the liver or spleen.
If your leukemia returns after initial treatment, doctors call it relapse and it can be more difficult to treat than earlier stages of the disease. Your treatment options may include new drugs being tested in clinical trials or ALL stem cell transplantation. Palliative care will also be important to help manage side effects and improve quality of life.
Our team of experts includes internationally recognized physicians who focus on leukemia and specific types of the disease, giving them a deep level of knowledge and experience to draw on when designing your treatment plan. These specialists communicate and collaborate daily to ensure you receive comprehensive, coordinated care.
For most people, the main treatment for leukemia is chemotherapy (the use of drugs to kill cancer cells). This can be given by pill or injection. Some chemotherapy agents target specific abnormalities in cancer cells to prevent them from growing or spreading. We also offer a number of targeted therapy clinical trials that can be used alone or in combination with other treatments, such as a bone marrow transplant or radiation therapy.
Bone marrow transplant is another treatment option for some people with leukemia, particularly those with acute myelogenous leukemia who have received previous chemotherapy. This treatment uses high doses of chemotherapy to destroy any remaining cancer cells in the bone marrow before receiving healthy bone marrow stem cells to replace them.
Leukemia is a cancer of blood-forming cells in the bone marrow. These cells normally become white blood cells that fight infections, red blood cells that carry oxygen and platelets that help stop bleeding.
But with leukemia, these abnormal cells grow out of control. They crowd out normal blood cells and can cause symptoms like fatigue, fever and easy bruising or bleeding.
Acute lymphocytic leukemia, or ALL, is a type of blood cancer that affects a type of white blood cell called lymphocytes. It can occur at any age, but it most often happens in children and teens. It is the most common type of leukemia in young people and it has a very good chance of being cured with treatment.
A person with ALL has too many immature lymphocytes that do not mature correctly and cannot fight infection properly. These cells also crowd out other blood-forming cells in the bone marrow and cause shortages of healthy white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets. These shortages can lead to infections, anemia and easy bleeding.
Most of the time, ALL starts in the blood and bone marrow (the soft inner part of some bones) where new blood cells are made. It can also start in the lymph nodes, liver and spleen or, more rarely, in the testicles (in males). The way a person’s leukemia develops and spreads is described by its stage.
Normally, each cell has 23 pairs of chromosomes, or DNA bundles. With ALL, there are changes (mutations) in the genes that control how the cells grow and develop. It is also possible that some of the chromosomes may get attached to other chromosomes in ways that are not normal. These mutations and other features of the chromosomes can help doctors predict a person’s outlook and choose the best treatment.
There are many different factors that can increase a person’s risk of developing ALL. Some of these are inherited. Others are due to things that happen during a person’s lifetime, like smoking or being exposed to certain chemicals.
Symptoms of ALL can range from mild to severe. Typical symptoms include fever, fatigue, bone pain and a general feeling of being unwell. People with ALL can also have other problems, like trouble breathing or a low number of healthy blood cells that can cause anemia. The symptoms of ALL may appear over a period of days to weeks and may come and go. It is important for anyone who has these symptoms to see a doctor for tests and treatment right away.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is most common in adults and occurs in the bone marrow — the spongy tissue inside the bones where blood cells are made. The cancer grows slowly and over time. The abnormal lymphocytes crowd out healthy ones and interfere with normal blood cell production, leading to anemia, infections, and bleeding problems. The disease can also cause the enlarged lymph nodes to compress nearby organs, such as the stomach or lungs.
The symptoms of CLL can be different for everyone and vary from mild to severe. Usually, the first symptom is enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, armpit, or groin area. These may be painful or tender, and they can grow larger over time. Other symptoms include fatigue, unintentional weight loss, night sweats, and a persistent fever (without signs of infection).
CLL can progress at different rates, from slow to fast. The more aggressive form of the disease has a higher number of lymphocytes than is normal and leaves little to no room for healthy red blood cells and platelets to develop. This can lead to anemia, which causes tiredness and difficulty fighting off infection. Infections can cause a high fever and severe bleeding.
Those with slow-growing CLL may not need treatment right away and can be watched closely. However, it is important to talk with your hematologist or oncologist about your diagnosis and find the best plan for you.
For those with more aggressive CLL, treatment is needed right away to keep the cancer from spreading. This can be done with chemotherapy and radiation, with a bone marrow transplant or with other treatments.
Genetic testing can help predict how quickly your cancer will spread and which treatment options are best for you. For example, a gene mutation called 17p deletion or TP53 mutation can indicate whether your CLL is more or less aggressive than other forms.
The most effective treatment for most people with CLL is an allogeneic bone marrow transplant. This involves replacing the unhealthy blood-forming cells with healthy donated cells from a family member, unrelated donor or umbilical cord blood. Before the transplant, you receive chemotherapy to kill the unhealthy cells and prepare the body for the new blood-forming cells.
Acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, starts in the bone marrow (the soft inner part of certain bones where blood cells are made) and moves quickly into the blood. It can also spread to the liver, spleen, central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), and testicles. AML is a fast-growing cancer that is usually treated with chemotherapy and sometimes with a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. It can affect people of all ages, but it is more common in adults over 60.
The goal of treatment is to put the AML into complete remission, which means that tests show your blood counts are normal and pathologists don’t see any leukemia cells when they examine a sample of your bone marrow. The first phase of treatment is called remission induction therapy and involves several drugs that work together to kill leukemia cells. The second phase is postremission therapy and includes drugs that kill any remaining leukemia cells that could begin to grow again. The types of treatment used for AML depend on the subtype of AML and whether it has spread to the brain and spinal cord or other parts of the body.
We don’t know what causes most cases of AML, but it often happens when there are changes in genes that control how your blood cells develop and grow. These changes may happen because of radiation or chemotherapy treatments, or because of a genetic disorder that increases your risk.
It’s important to get diagnosed with AML as soon as possible, because it can be hard to treat if it isn’t found early. Signs and symptoms of AML include fever, feeling tired, easy bruising or bleeding, and paleness.
The most common treatment for AML is chemotherapy. Doctors use many different kinds of chemotherapy drugs to kill the leukemia cells and stop them from growing. They can also give you radiotherapy or a type of high-energy radiation that targets specific parts of the body where the cancer is located. Doctors can also try newer types of treatment, including targeted therapy and allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
In this type of leukemia, abnormal blood cells grow and multiply out of control in your bone marrow. They crowd out healthy blood cells and prevent them from maturing and functioning properly. As a result, you don’t have enough healthy red blood cells to supply your body with oxygen, or enough healthy white blood cells to fight infections or form blood clots.
The signs and symptoms of this type of leukemia depend on the kind of lymphoma you have. Some examples include:
Anemia: You may feel tired and weak because your blood can’t carry enough oxygen to your organs. Bleeding and bruising: Your body may not have enough healthy platelets (blood cells that help blood clot) to stop bleeding or to cover a wound. Tiny red dots on your skin (“petechiae”) may also show up because small blood vessels have bled or burst. Recurrent infections: The many abnormal white blood cells found in chronic lymphocytic leukemia don’t fight infection the way they should.
Your doctor will diagnose lymphoma based on the results of your blood and imaging tests. He or she may order a chest X-ray, CT scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan to see if your leukemia has spread to your bones, tissues or organs. Your healthcare provider may also test a sample of spinal fluid (lumbar puncture) to see if your leukemia has affected your brain or spinal cord.
If you are diagnosed with lymphoma, your treatment plan will depend on which subtype of cancer you have and how fast it is growing. It’s important to seek care in a cancer center where doctors have experience treating lymphoma.
Some types of lymphoma are more serious than others, but treatments can often put lymphoma into remission or cure it. You and your healthcare team will make a plan that fits your needs and goals. It’s important to keep in touch with your healthcare team and ask questions. This will help you get the best possible outcomes from your treatment. If you are feeling worse, let your healthcare team know right away.