Blood tests and bone marrow biopsies can be done to determine if you have leukemia.
Because many types of leukemia have no obvious symptoms in the early stages of the disease, they are usually detected incidentally during routine blood tests during a physical examination.
Physicians may suspect leukemia if a patient presents with pallor, swollen lymph nodes, edematous gums, enlarged liver or spleen, severe bruising, bleeding, fever, persistent infection, fatigue, or a spotty rash.
A blood test showing an abnormal white blood cell count can further suggest signs of leukemia.
To ultimately confirm and identify the specific type of leukemia, a needle aspiration biopsy is performed on the patient’s hip bone and a bone marrow sample is taken to test for leukemia cells, DNA markers, and chromosomal variants in it.
Important factors that affect leukemia include:
- The age of the patient;
- Specific type of leukemia;
- Chromosomal variants detected in leukemic cells and bone marrow.