how long does childhood leukemia take to diagnose?
542205
Most of the symptoms of leukemia are not unique. Some of these symptoms can also be caused by other problems like infections. For these reasons, an accurate diagnosis is needed and the best way to do this is for your doctor to take cells samples from the child's blood and bone marrow. \n\nBlood cell counts and blood cell examination: Changes in the numbers of different cell types in the blood and the appearance of these cells under the microscope often make the doctor suspect leukemia. Most children with acute leukemia (ALL or AML) will have either too many white cells in their blood and not enough red blood cells (oxygen-carrying cells) and/or not enough platelets (cells that help plug up small holes in blood vessels and stop bleeding from cuts and bruises). In addition, many of the white blood cells in these children's blood will be blasts, a type of cell normally found in the bone marrow but not in circulating blood. Even though these findings may make your doctor suspect that leukemia is present, usually the disease cannot be diagnosed for sure without obtaining a sample of bone marrow cells. \n\nBone marrow aspiration and biopsy: Bone marrow aspiration involves removing a small amount of bone marrow. Usually the sample is taken from the back of the pelvic bone. The bone is numbed with xylocaine, a local anesthetic. In some cases, the child is also given medications to reduce pain or even put her or him to sleep during the procedure. The needle is then put through the outer bone into the marrow space, and some marrow is removed. A biopsy follows, during which a small cylindrical piece of bone and bone marrow (about 1/16-inch in diameter and 1/2-inch long) is removed. Both samples generally are taken at the same time. These tests are used for the initial diagnosis and are repeated later to tell if the leukemia is responding to therapy. \n\nOther blood tests: Children with leukemia will have tests done to measure the amount of certain chemicals in the blood, in order to evaluate how well their liver and kidneys are working. These tests are not used to diagnose leukemia. But, in children already known to have leukemia, these tests help detect liver or kidney problems due to damage caused by the spread of leukemic cells or the side effects of certain chemotherapy drugs. Tests may also be done to check for spread of infections to the child's bloodstream. Prompt and accurate diagnosis and treatment of infections is important for children with leukemia, because their weakened immune system allows infections to spread quickly. \n\nLymph node biopsy: A surgeon cuts through the skin to remove the entire lymph node (excisional biopsy). If the node is near the skin surface, this is a simple operation that can be done with local anesthesia (numbing medication) in the older, cooperative child. But if the node is inside the chest or abdomen, general anesthesia is used (the child is asleep). This procedure is important in diagnosing lymphomas, but is rarely needed for children with leukemias. \n\nLumbar puncture (spinal tap): A small needle is inserted into the spinal cavity in the lower back to withdraw some cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) look for leukemia cells. A lumbar puncture is also used to administer chemotherapy drugs into the spinal fluid to prevent or treat spread of leukemia to the spinal cord and brain. \n\nFor more details on treatment options – including some that may not be addressed in this document – the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) are good sources of information.  \n\nThe NCI provides treatment guidelines via its telephone information center (1-800-4-CANCER) and its Web site. Detailed guidelines intended for use by cancer care professionals are also available on www.cancer.gov.
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Please do not dismiss this complaint. I do not want to scare you but I don't know how else to make you take this seriously. Take him back to the doctor and insist on a complete physical.\n\nThere is an extremely rare childhood cancer of the abdomen called desmoplastic small round cell tumor. It predominately strikes boys and young adults and occurs as multiple masses within the abdominal cavity. Feel his tummy all over for lumps or anything hard. If you find something, get him to his doctor today. Family doctors can miss this type of cancer because it is so rare. They can also misdiagnose the cancer because there may be few or no symptoms. \n\nAs I've said, this is a rare cancer but you need to find out exactly what is going on with him. It needs to be checked out, just to be sure.\n\nDSRCT patients\nhttp://www.dsrct.com/patients.htm\n\nI didn't listen to my son when he was complaining about similar symptoms. When he was finally diagnosed  he was already a stage IV.
145036
Not sure what you mean.  It may take up to 6-9 months for the viral load to be sufficient to result in a positive test for AIDS after exposure to HIV.
982466
Your son has lymphoblasts in his blood, they should only be in his bone marrow.  When there is leukaemia, there is an overload of the immature white cells, when they run out of room in the bone marrow, they spill into the blood stream. The cancer cause the white cell to never mature, so it never does its job of fighting infections. Although the blood test may show high levels of white cells, these are cancerous cells.\n\nBone marrow biopsy is done to confirm
1069572
What is leukemia?\n\nLeukemia is cancer of the blood cells. Blood cells are made by your bone marrow, which is the soft tissue in the middle of most bones. In leukemia, the bone marrow starts making too many white blood cells, and sometimes these cells don't work right. These cells keep growing when they are supposed to stop. They also grow faster than your other cells. Over time, these abnormal cells crowd out your normal white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. \n\nYour white blood cells help your body fight infection. Your red blood cells make sure all your body parts have the oxygen they need. Your platelets keep you from bleeding too much. When the leukemia cells crowd out your normal cells, your blood cannot do its job. You may bleed or bruise easily, get sick more often, and feel very tired. \n\nAre there different types of leukemia?\n\nThere are four main types of leukemia. Acute leukemia gets worse very quickly. People with acute leukemia often feel sick right away. Chronic leukemia gets worse slowly, and you may not have any symptoms until later on in the illness. Those two kinds of leukemia are divided according to which kind of white blood cells are involved, lymphocytes or myelocytes.\n\nAcute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). ALL is the most common leukemia in children. Adults also get it. \nAcute myelogenous leukemia (AML). AML affects both children and adults. \nChronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). CLL is the most common leukemia in adults, especially older adults. Children almost never get it. It mostly affects people who are older than 55. \nChronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). CML occurs mostly in adults. \nWhat causes leukemia?\n\nExperts do not know what causes leukemia. They do not know why some people get it and others do not. It is likely that the different types of leukemia have different causes.\n\nResearch has shown that some people may be more likely to get leukemia. A risk factor is anything that raises your chance of getting a disease. Risk factors for leukemia include chemotherapy treatment, being exposed to large amounts of radiation or some chemicals in the workplace, and smoking and tobacco use.\n\nMost people who get leukemia do not have any risk factors.\n\nWhat are the symptoms?\n\nSymptoms may include:\n\nFevers and night sweats. \nFrequent infections. \nWeakness and fatigue. \nHeadaches. \nBruising of the skin and bleeding from the gums or rectum. \nJoint pain. \nSwelling in the belly or pain on the left side of the belly or in the left shoulder from a swollen spleen. \nSwollen lymph nodes in the armpit, neck, or groin. \nDecreased appetite and weight loss because you feel full and don't want to eat. \nThe chronic forms of leukemia often cause no symptoms at first.\n\nHow is leukemia diagnosed?\n\nIf your doctor thinks you might have leukemia, he or she will ask questions about your past and present symptoms, do a physical exam, and order blood tests.\n\nIf your blood tests are not normal, a test of cells from inside your bone marrow, called a bone marrow biopsy, is usually needed to diagnose leukemia.\n\nHow is it treated?\n\nTreatment depends on what kind of leukemia you have and how far along it is. Treatment can range from watchful waiting to a bone marrow transplant. Usually it includes chemotherapy and sometimes radiation treatments.\n\nFrequently Asked Questions\n\nLearning about leukemia: \n What is leukemia? \nWhat causes leukemia? \nHow can I prevent leukemia? \nWhat are the symptoms of leukemia? \nWhat increases my chances of getting leukemia? \nHow common is leukemia? \nWhat happens in leukemia? \n \nBeing diagnosed: \n How will my doctor diagnose leukemia? \nWhat is a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy? \n \nGetting treatment: \n How is leukemia treated? \nWhat type of medications will I need to take? \nWill I have to have radiation therapy? \nWhat is a bone marrow transplant? \n \nOngoing concerns: \n When should I call my doctor? \n \nLiving with leukemia: \n Wha
853220
Depending on where you are and how old you are.  A 30 min. physical includes urinalysis, going over family history, a complete exam of you, and a electrocardiogram.  Sometime it takes a full 30 min sometimes a little less.
111062
It varies.  I think it depends on how progressed the cancer is and what part of the body it is affecting.  I've been in remission for 6 years, but from what I can remember my sed rate was extremely high, my liver counts and platelets were high, and I was extremely anemic.  I think my white blood cells were high also.
1076693
ACTUALLY , CBC TEST IS A (( ROUTINE INVESTIGATION )) NEITHER SPECIFIC, NOR SENSITIVE.\n\nIN CASES OF ONCOLOGY DISEASES ( CANCERS), CBC MIGHT HELP AS WE CALLED IN MEDICINE (( INCREASE SUSPPECION)), AND MIGHT HELP TO FOLLOW UP  THE DIAGNOSED CANCER,\n\nSOME READING IN THE CBC MIGHT INCRAESE PROPABILITY TO HAVE CANCER (( IN ADDITION TO THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS)) LIKE:\n\nWBC > 30,000 (( AS IN LEUKAEMIAS ))\nPLATETETS < 60 ( AS IN MYELODYSPLASTIC CANCERS).\nLOW HGB < 8gm% ( IN MOST CANCERS).\n\nSO , TO SUMMARIZE.....\n\nC,B,C HELPS TO DIAGNOSE AND FOLLOW UP CANCERS , BUT.\nC,B,C ((ALONE)) CAN NOT DIAGNOSE CANCERS..
21930
There are four major types of leukemia. And basically it is a cancer-like disease of bones and blood. See links for detailed info.
136013
I have two little boys. My oldest who turned five in july was diagnosed with cancer in dec of 2004. He was only 4 years old. You never know how many children are battling cancer until you or someone that you know is going through it. These children are truely amazing. I do it for all of them. I want a world thats free of cancer. Especially for the children they dont deserve to go through that. They are way too precious to have to deal with it. That is why I do it for the children, for my children.
227213
Cervical dysplasia in children describes the presence of abnormal, precancerous cells on the surface of the cervix or its canal. \nDoctors recognize two types of dysplasia: low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LGSIL) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HGSIL). \nThe abnormal cells present in LGSIL usually return to normal on their own within 18 to 24 months, but the HGSIL cells, if not treated, can progress to cancer of the cervix. To detect these changes early, it is essential to have regular Pap smears. \nCervical dysplasia can occur at any age, though it is still most common between the more mature ages of 25 and 35. \nThis condition's increasing prevalence among children has been linked to exposure to specific strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes genital warts. The risk of cervical dysplasia is increased in those children of women who have had unprotected sex at a very young age (under 18), or have had multiple sex partners, or with partners who have had multiple partners, or who have had a history of sexually transmitted diseases.
794534
Yes, it does seem that the majority of pediatric brain tumours occur in children between 5 and 8 years of age. In most cases, there is no clear cause, and it is also very difficult to predict which children will get brain tumours in the general population. The link below provides reputable information about prevalence of brain tumours in children (Canadian stats), and reviews some of the current information available about possible causal factors. Hope this helps.
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Cancer is a cell that's messed up and multiplying\ngenerally speaking the risks of cancer increase with age, there are some leukemias that are more common in the very young people (Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia most common under age 19) and some that are more common in older people (Acute Myelogenous Leukemia is more often in adults over 40)\nthis website http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/hm_lls is pretty good at talking about leukemia and lymphoma.\n\nand if you and anyone else has the signs or symptoms go see a dr, because anyone at any age can get leukemia or lymphoma
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Leukemia is an abnormal increase in whiteblood cells.\nBut there is not enough white blood cells that actually fight infection\nUsually accompanied by fatigue and weakness and anemia\n\nA good explanation from a site:\n\nIn a healthy person, the bone marrow makes the blood-forming cells that turn into the white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets in the blood. An ALL patient's marrow makes too many blast cells (immature white blood cells). These blast cells should turn into the white blood cells called lymphocytes, but they do not. So many blast cells grow that the marrow does not have room to make the normal red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. This causes these symptoms of ALL:\n\n\nAnemia -- feeling tired, short of breath and looking pale, caused by too few red blood cells \nBruising easily and having cuts that heal slowly or not at all, caused by too few platelets \nHaving frequent infections, especially of the skin or ear, caused by too few normal white blood cells
682478
It can take from 7 days to two weeks. Very few times, it can take longer. Go and check with your doctor if u have some kind of outbreak
865001
From personal experience it takes four hours. The swelling comes first. The bruise appearence follows later.
395811
This is caused by a virus that is very common among children younger than 5.  The degrees of infection vary but can include fever, blisters in the mouth, on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.  It takes 5 to 7 days to run its course.