Hematologist-Oncologist Questions Childhood Leukemia

How is leukemia diagnosed?

It took a while for my friend's daughter to be diagnosed with leukemia, and it felt like it was too long. How is leukemia usually diagnosed in patients? Especially the young ones.

3 Answers

Leukemia is usually diagnosed by an elevated white cell count and may be manifest with a lowered red cell count and platelet count.
The gold standard is a bone marrow biopsy after suggestive clinical presentation and abnormal blood counts.
The gold standard is a bone marrow biopsy after suggestive clinical presentation and abnormal blood counts.