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Cancer Center Virtual Tour

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) - Symptom

Alternative Names

ALL; Acute childhood leukemia; Cancer - acute childhood leukemia (ALL); Leukemia - acute childhood (ALL)

Symptoms:

Bleeding gums
Bone pain or tenderness
Easy bruising
Excessive or prolonged bleeding
Fatigue
Fever
Joint pain
Infection
Menstrual irregularities
Nosebleeds
Paleness
Palpitations
Pinpoint red spots on the skin (petechiae)
Shortness of breath (made worse by exercise)
Swollen glands (lymphadenopathy)
Swollen gums
Unintentional weight loss

Signs and tests:

A physical exam may reveal the following:

Bruising
Enlarged liver and spleen
Signs of bleeding (petechiae, purpura)

Blood tests may show the following:

Abnormal white blood cell (WBC) count
Low red blood cell count (anemia)
Low platelet count (thrombocytopenia)

A bone marrow aspiration will show abnormal levels of certain cells.

ALL may also change the results of the following tests:

If you are diagnosed with ALL, genetic tests will be done to determine the specific type of ALL. Doctors can look for chromosome changes in the cells of some leukemias. Leukemias with certain types of chromosome changes have a poor outlook, while those with other types of genes can have a very good outlook. This may determine what kind of therapy is used to treat the ALL.

Bone marrow aspiration

Acute lymphocytic leukemia - photomicrograph

Auer rods

Bone marrow from hip

Immune system structures

Reviewed last on: 3/2/2009
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Appelbaum FR. The acute leukemias. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier;2007:chap 194.

National Cancer Institute. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia - adult, treatment (PDQ). Accessed February 24, 2009.

National Cancer Institute. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia - childhood, treatment (PDQ). 2008. Accessed February 24, 2009.

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