Diagnosis is an important stage in understanding what is happening with your child. Hearing that your child has leukemia may be overwhelming. This is a life-changing diagnosis and comes with a lot of new information and vocabulary. You will be meeting with your child’s doctors and other members of the heath care team often. It is a good idea to bring a pen and paper or electronic device with you and write down any new information they give you during the meeting and note down questions as you come up with them. You may also want to take a friend or a relative with you to take notes.
If your child shows symptoms of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML), your doctor will first order a complete blood count (CBC) test. This will look for any abnormalities in the blood, such as unusually high or low blood cells. A CBC test may indicate that your child has leukemia, but is not enough to confirm the disease.
To get more detailed information about the type of leukemia your child may have a bone marrow aspiration and sometimes a biopsy are done next. At the same time, or often the next day, doctors will perform a lumbar puncture (spinal tap). This test checks if leukemic cells have entered the fluid that surrounds the brain and spine, called the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The first dose of intrathecal chemotherapy may be given during the first lumbar puncture.
After completing the blood exam, your doctor needs samples of your child’s bone marrow to help clearly diagnose their ALL or AML. Your child’s doctor will order diagnostic tests to help identify the type of leukemia, as well as the subtype. These include:
- cell morphology test
- immunophenotyping
- cytogenetics and molecular tests
- lumbar puncture
How long does it take to diagnose your child's leukemia?
Your doctor will usually know if you child has leukemia the same day the bone marrow tests are performed. Treatment starts quickly after the diagnosis is confirmed. However, additional tests are done on your child's bone marrow samples to identify the type of leukemia. This can take a few weeks. These results are very important because they help doctors plan your child's treatment for the first month.