Lymphocytes may crowd out other blood cells in the blood and bone marrow. If your child's bone marrow cannot make enough red blood cells to carry oxygen, your child may have anemia. If your child's bone marrow cannot make enough platelets to make the blood clot normally, your child may bleed or bruise easily. The cancerous lymphocytes can also invade other organs, the spinal cord, and the brain. Acute lymphocytic leukemia progresses quickly, and can occur in both children and adults.
Treatment is different for adults than it is for children.
For information on adult ALL, see the PDQ patient information summary on adult acute lymphocytic leukemia. Separate PDQ patient information summaries are also available for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, adult or childhood acute myeloid leukemia, and hairy cell leukemia. Early signs of ALL may be similar to those of the flu or other common diseases, such as a fever that won't go away, feeling weak or tired all the time, aching bones or joints, or swollen lymph nodes. If your child has symptoms of leukemia, his or her 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, a bone marrow biopsy may be performed.