Diagnosis of Leukemia
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Doctors sometimes find leukemia after a routine blood test. If you have symptoms that suggest leukemia, your doctor will try to find out what's causing the problems. Your doctor may ask about your personal and family medical history.
You may have one or more of the following tests:
You may have one or more of the following tests:
- Physical exam: Your doctor checks for swollen lymph nodes, spleen, or liver.
- Blood tests: The lab does a complete blood count to check the number of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. Leukemia causes a very high level of white blood cells. It may also cause low levels of platelets and hemoglobin, which is found inside red blood cells.
- Biopsy: Your doctor removes tissue to look for cancer cells. A biopsy is the only sure way to know whether leukemia cells are in your bone marrow. Before the sample is taken, local anesthesia is used to numb the area. This helps reduce the pain. Your doctor removes some bone marrow from your hipbone or another large bone. A pathologist uses a microscope to check the tissue for leukemia cells. There are two ways your doctor can obtain bone marrow. Some people will have both procedures during the same visit:
- Bone marrow aspiration: The doctor uses a thick, hollow needle to remove samples of bone marrow.
- Bone marrow biopsy: The doctor uses a very thick, hollow needle to remove a small piece of bone and bone marrow.