A 38-year-old member asked:
How do you diagnose leukemia?
2 doctor answers • 8 doctors weighed in
Dr. James Ballanswered
Pediatric Hematology and Oncology 21 years experience
Blood or bone marrow: Typically this s diagnosed by a bone marrow test. In the marrow will be the abnormal proliferation of cells of the same type. At times, these cells in the can "spill" into the blood. When this occurs, the leukemia s diagnosed on blood tests. Even when noticed in the blood, a marrow test is usually performed as well.
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Dr. Michael Engelanswered
Pediatric Hematology and Oncology 22 years experience
Leukemia suggested..: By symptoms and signs: fatigue, pallor, headache, fast heart rat, bleeding, bruising, petechial rash, fever, bone pain, walk refusal or loss of milestones, cranial nerve palsies, lymphadenopathy, splenomegally, etc. Any system can be affected for multiple reasons. Classically it required a bone marrow test, but often now we can diagnose and determine type from peripheral blood by flow cytometry.
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4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Similar questions
A 39-year-old member asked:
What can you do when diagnosed with leukemia?
1 doctor answer • 1 doctor weighed in
Dr. Keith Stockerl-Goldsteinanswered
Hematology and Oncology 32 years experience
See a specialist: There are effective treatments for leukemias but these diseases should be treated by a hematologist/oncologist who specialized in the treatment of blood cancers. The type of therapy is dependent on the type of leukemia being treated.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
Van Nuys, CA
A 18-year-old female asked:
How is leukemia found/diagnosed?
2 doctor answers • 6 doctors weighed in
Dr. Nestor Del rosarioanswered
Addiction Medicine 36 years experience
Symptoms: Most of the time, people present with symptoms like small bruises or blood sports or fevers and blood test is drawn. The blood test if abnormal will then have peripheral smears with abnormal cells. More tests will be done to the blood or a bone marrow aspiration/biopsy is done and leukemia is diagnosed and typed as per the cells and staining seen.. This is a simplified picture.
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4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 21-year-old member asked:
What is leukemia?
3 doctor answers • 5 doctors weighed in
Dr. Stephen Nogaanswered
Medical Oncology 36 years experience
Blood cell cancer: Leukemia is cancer of one of the bone marrow cells. The cells start growing quickly and either enter the blood stream where they are first detected or build up in the bone marrow where people are diagnosed after becoming ill from infection or bleeding because the normal blood cells are crowded out and can't do their jobs. Granulocytes, lymphocytes, red cells and platelets can turn cancerous.
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6.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Last updated Aug 17, 2017
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