Leukemia is also known as blood cancer, starting from those regions in the body that form cells for the blood. An unusual increase in the number of white blood cells is characteristic of Leukemia.

image by Dustan Johnson

What are the signs and symptoms of Leukemia?

Leukemia symptoms often vary depending on the type of leukemia. The four major types of leukemia being:

• Acute Myelogenous Leukemia
• Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia
• Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia
• Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Apart from this, the signs of leukemia also differ based on other factors like age of the person infected and the cause.

Some common signs and symptoms of leukemia include frequent infection, fever, cold, chills, loss of appetite and weight, abdominal pain, tender or swollen lymph nodes, malaise and frequent pain in bones and joints. Not all patients experience the same kind of symptoms as the signs differ for each case of leukemia.

Early Symptoms of Leukemia

The first signs of leukemia are usually non specific and vague.

The early signs of leukemia differ in each person, though most of them experience common flu-like symptoms. These include fever, chills, weakness, fatigue, and frequent and recurring infections. The patients exhibit swollen lymph nodes, liver and spleen along with little red spots under the skin. It also involve loss of appetite, weight loss and bleeding gums. Bone and joint pains are also noticed and there is excess bleeding than in a normal cut or bruise.

There is a loss of red blood cells resulting in anemia. Excessive sweating is also seen as an early sign of leukemia and calls for a diagnosis.

Childhood Leukemia Symptoms

Children affected with leukemia are more susceptible to infection. One of the early signs of leukemia in children is the non-functioning of antibiotics for other normal childhood illnesses as leukemia is immune to antibiotics.

Bruises, scratches or cuts are noticed even for an ordinary cause that wouldn’t be that serious enough ordinarily. In case of bleeding, the blood doesn’t stop quickly.

The child experiences pain in bones and joints when the leukemia cells deposit themselves under the surface of the bone and inside joints.

Another early symptom of leukemia in children is the loss of appetite and weight-reduction for no known cause.

Other commonly noticed symptoms in children include vomiting, headaches and uncontrolled fits along with skin reactions. In some cases, there is an enlargement in the abdominal area as leukemia causes distention in spleen and liver (these are located in the abdominal area).

Leukemia Symptoms in Adults

Signs of leukemia in adults are more or less similar to those noticed in children. These include the same flu-like indications of frequent infection, fever, cold and chills.

Fatigue, weakness, malaise, headaches, seizures, weakness, blurred vision, balancing inability and vomiting are some common signs of leukemia in adults when it spreads to the brain.

Pain in bones and joints is more severe than in children. There is a loss of appetite, weight loss and abdominal pain due to expansion of spleen and liver. The lymph nodes turn tender and swollen. Bruises and cuts are also noticed at the first provocation.

Some of the exhibited signs of leukemia in men and women alike is shortness of breath, frequent and lengthy coughing along with suffocation.

The symptoms of leukemia are seen in places where these cells accumulate or are deposited and the characteristic of the symptoms will be dependent on this. Leukemia can be chronic or acute type and can be easily diagnosed with regular blood test.

Leukemia is usually caused by radiation exposure or due to chain smoking or exposure to too much of smoke.

Acute symptoms of leukemia are headaches, vomiting, confusion, loss of muscle control, or seizures. They also affect other parts of the body like digestive tract, kidneys, lungs, heart or testes and the symptoms of the leukemia will be dependent on which of these regions are affected.

Common Symptoms of Chronic Leukemia or Acute Leukemia

• Swollen lymph nodes (especially in the neck or armpit) that can be painful. Lymph nodes are the regions where blood cleanses itself and can drain the excess leukemic cells in these regions. This will result in swelling and inflammation and makes these lymph nodes prone to infections and lymphitis.

• Fevers or night sweats

• Frequent infections – this is because the number of increased white blood cells are immature and do not have the ability to fight bacterial and viral infections efficiently as under normal conditions. The accumulation of these immature white blood cells in the bone marrow will also result in reduction of bone marrow cells required for the synthesis of blood platelets. Hence, there will be excessive bleeding or development of pinprick bleeding (petechiae) due to a disturbance in the blood clotting process resulting in malformed blood clots, and thus one can frequently see purple patches of blood clots.

• Feeling weak or tired

• Bleeding and bruising easily (bleeding gums, purplish patches in the skin, or tiny red spots under the skin

• Swelling or discomfort in the abdomen causing pain that may result in loss of appetite and weight

• Weight loss for no reason

• Pain in the bones and joints because of cell proliferation in the bone marrow

• Unexplained fevers

• Blurred vision

• Balance problems

• Shortness of breath or dyspnea when the cells accumulate in the chest resulting in pain and difficulty in breathing seeking immediate medical attention

• Loss of muscle control and seizures

• Anemia – there will be reduction in the number of red blood cells and platelets and hence will there be a reduction in the possibility of ability to carry oxygen leading to a number of other related symptoms.

However, common are these symptoms for other infections also and so only, a doctor can tell for sure what is what.  The good thing about leukemia is that a simple blood test could be able to help you to diagnose and respond appropriately.

The difference between acute and chronic leukemia is that in chronic leukemia the symptoms do not appear until the disease is diagnosed until the later stages after development of cancer in the blood while in acute leukemia the symptoms are diagnosed immediately and easily.

A leukemia is a condition when the leukemic condition is not visible in normal blood smear test, but occurs silently within the bone marrow, and will result in related in symptoms appearing at a later stage only.

When the symptoms of leukemia appear at the early stage of the cancer then is classified as acute leukemia and if the symptoms of leukemia appear on a later stage after the onset of cancer then is called chronic leukemia.

Now let us see more in detail about the different types of leukemias and its associated symptoms :

Acute Leukemia will be of two types – acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Acute Leukemia Symptoms

Most signs of acute leukemia are caused by low levels of normal blood cells. It happens when there is an overcrowding of the blood-forming bone marrow by leukemia cells. Acute leukemia spreads rapidly among unformed or primitive cells making these blood cells incapable of carrying out normal functions. This is why the signs of acute leukemia are seen at the earlier stages. Hence, most of the common signs of leukemia are seen in patients with acute leukemia including fatigue, malaise, abnormal bleeding, abdominal pain, bone or joint pains, weakness, excessive bruising and reduced exercise tolerance.

Chronic Leukemia is also of two types- chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CLM).

Chronic Leukemia Symptoms

Chronic leukemia symptoms develop slowly unlike acute forms of cancer. They signs of chronic leukemia often resemble various less serious medical conditions. Some of the signs noticed are fatigue, fever, unexplained weight loss and night sweats. Other symptoms include heightened rates of infection, easy bruising and severe bleeding.

The spleen enlarges as the abnormal white blood cells tend to accumulate causing splenomegaly. This results in abdominal discomfort and the patient feels full after eating even small amounts of food.

Chronic leukemia causes leucostatis due to abnormally high white blood cell levels resulting in headaches, confusion and dizziness. This can also affect the lungs and heart.

Insufficient amounts of platelets lead to easy bruising and bleeding as platelets are responsible for blood clotting.

Another symptom of chronic leukemia is the development of hypogammaglobulinemia which affects the immune system. In this, the level of gamma globulin antibodies decreases and thus affects the fight against infection.

Symptoms of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

In patients suffering from chronic myeloid leukemia, the following symptoms are seen at a later stage:

High white blood cell level in blood and bone marrow, night sweats, fever, headache, fatigue , shortness of blood, pale skin, easy bruising, infection, bleeding, bone and joint pains, fever, enlarged spleen and bleeding problems.

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Symptoms

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is seen when the lymphocytes lose their normal ability to die and start accumulating. Most of the patients have no symptoms at the time of diagnosis, except for an increase in the number of white blood cells.

Patients notice fatigue or enlargement of lymph nodes and fullness in the abdomen due to an enlarged spleen.

When chronic lymphocytic leukemia reaches an advanced level, it can cause anemia due to low blood counts. The patient’s risk of infection increases due to low production of antibodies that help fight bacteria.

Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Symptoms

The early symptoms of chronic myelogenous leukemia are fatigue, fever, excessive sweating and fullness in the abdomen due to an enlarged spleen. In the later stages, the blood count decreases considerably and the patient experiences high fever along with bone and joint pains. The enlargement of the spleen turns very painful.

Chronic symptoms of leukemia occur only in the later stage after the onset of cancer in the blood and are not easily diagnosable until you go for a check-up of some infection that will require blood tests. Once the doctor suspects leukemia, he/she will continuously check for leukemic symptoms with continuous blood tests.

Symptoms of Feline Leukemia

The common symptoms of feline leukemia noticed in cats are decreased stamina, immune suppression, bleeding disorders, blood in the stool and infertility. The cat tends to drink too much of water and as a result excessive urination is observed. Infant mortality complex and arthritis are noticed in cats with feline leukemia.

The other signs of feline leukemia are ulcers at body openings, immune diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, skin lesions, weight loss, anemia, diarrhea, jaundice, cystitis, cloudy eyes and neurology abnormalities.

Conclusion

After studying the symptoms observed in various types of cancers and in different age groups, we can deduce that most of these are quite similar to each other. Few particular symptoms are more severe in one case than other. These symptoms are quite common and can be mistaken for other illnesses. That is precisely why a doctor’s advice and proper diagnosis becomes necessary to fight this deadly disease of leukemia.

Also Read:

• What is Leukemia?
• Leukemia Diagnosis and Treatment
• Types of Leukemia
• Low Blood Sugar Symptoms & Signs

by Dr John on 19. Apr, 2010 in Cancer