Leukemia

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Diagnosis

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) usually is suspected because a test finds abnormal blood counts and the appearance of leukemic cells, or blasts, in the blood. Then, the diagnosis is established by examination of the bone marrow. It usually is difficult to be certain of a diagnosis of ALL simply by the appearance of cells under the microscope. Therefore additional laboratory tests normally are needed.

One important test is immunophenotyping (also called flow cytometry), which determines whether the cells are lymphoid (ALL) rather than myeloid (AML). Immunophenotyping will also determine whether they are T or B lymphocytes. In addition, chromosome testing, called cytogenetics, is a critical part of the evaluation that also will help determine the appropriate course of treatment.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated August 1, 2007