Hematologic Malignancies Program

Patient and Family Education

Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Symptoms and Diagnosis

Childhood acute myeloid leukemia is often difficult to diagnose. The early signs may be similar to the flu or other common diseases. If a child has the following symptoms and they won't go away, the child should see a doctor:

fever, persistent weakness or tiredness
aching in the bones or joints
or swollen lymph nodes

The doctor may order blood tests to count the number of each of the different kinds of blood cells. If the results of the blood tests are not normal, the doctor may do a bone marrow biopsy. During this test, a needle is inserted into a bone and a small amount of bone marrow is taken out and looked at under the microscope, enabling the doctor to determine what kind of leukemia the child has and to plan the best treatment. Chromosomal analysis may also be performed. These additional tests can help distinguish acute myeloid leukemia from acute lymphocytic leukemia.

The chance of recovery (prognosis) depends on how the leukemia cells look under a microscope, how far the leukemia has spread, and the child's age and general health.

This page was last updated on: October 7, 2009.