Making the diagnosis. Emergencies at diagnosis. Emergencies during therapy. Pain and symptom control.
Survival rates are highest if treatment is supervised by a tertiary level paediatric oncology unit.
Early diagnosis simplifies therapy and improves the outlook for the child. Always considering leukaemia or other types of cancer in any sick child facilitates early diagnosis. Transfusion with packed red blood cells must be given promptly in this situation. CMV-negative blood products should be requested when ordering packed RBCs. These may indicate septicaemia and can occur prior to diagnosis as well as during treatment.