Acute myeloid leukaemia symptoms

Many symptoms are vague and non-specific. You may feel as if you have flu. Possible symptoms can include

• General weakness
• Feeling tired (fatigue)
• High temperature (fever)
• Weight loss
• Frequent infections
• Bruising or bleeding easily
• Blood in your urine or stools
• Pain in the bones or joints
• Breathlessness
• Swollen lymph glands - this is rare
• A feeling of fullness or discomfort in the tummy (abdomen) from a swollen liver or spleen

These symptoms are caused by too many abnormal white blood cells and not enough normal white cells, red cells and platelets.

Feeling tired (fatigue)

AML can cause low levels of red blood cells. This is known as anaemia. If you are anaemic, you may feel more tired than usual. You may get breathless when you normally wouldn’t - after climbing a short flight of stairs for example.

Infections

You may get infections because you don’t have enough healthy white blood cells to fight bacteria or viruses. You may notice that you are getting more infections than you would normally expect. Or that they are lasting a long time and are difficult to shake off.

Bruising and bleeding

Platelets are needed for the blood to clot properly. So you may get abnormal bruising and bleeding because you don’t have enough platelets. You might have nosebleeds. Or bleeding from the gums when you clean your teeth. (A very small amount of bleeding from the gums is relatively common and not related to leukaemia.) Women may have very heavy periods. Or you may notice a rash of very small dark red spots. This is called purpura and is caused by bleeding under the skin.

Joint pains

Too many abnormal white blood cells collecting in the bones, joints or lymph glands can cause pain and swelling.

If you have any of these AML symptoms, you must get checked by your GP. But remember, the symptoms of AML are often vague, and can all be caused by other medical conditions. Most people with these symptoms don’t have leukaemia. There is information on who should see a leukaemia specialist in this section of CancerHelp UK.

The earlier a cancer is picked up, the easier it is to treat it and the more likely the treatment is to be successful. So it is important that you go to your GP as soon as possible if you notice worrying symptoms.