Acute Myeloid Leukemia Symptoms

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a subtype of leukemia in which immature blood cells fail to mature and therefore fail to carry out their normal functions.

This disease also goes by the following very similar-sounding names:

• Acute myelogenous leukemia
• Acute myelocytic leukemia
• Acute myeloblastic leukemia
• Acute granulocytic leukemia

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Symptoms

Most of the symptoms associated with acute myeloid leukemia are known as "non-specific symptoms," meaning that they are not exclusive to this disease. Having one of them does not mean a person has AML. Rather, these non-specific symptoms can be found in a host of other diseases and disorders:

• Pale skin
• Unexplained bruising
• Petechiae (pinhead-size red spots) under the skin
• An inability or staggered ability to heal from minor cuts
• Fatigue, lack of energy
• Shortness of breath when carrying out normal everyday things
• Mild unexplained fever
• Night sweats
• Swollen gums
• Frequent minor infections
• Unexplained loss of appetite, subsequent weight loss
• Aching in bones or joints
• Discomfort coming from the upper left side of the stomach

This last symptom might indicate a swollen spleen, something a doctor can determine through clinical exam.

A host of these symptoms does not mean one has developed acute myeloid leukemia. Following an exam by a physician, a patient suspected of having AML will likely require some blood tests, a bone marrow biopsy, and finally, confirmation from a pathologist, who uses several lab techniques to determine the specifics of a cancer.

There are approximately 14,000 new diagnoses of AML in the United States each year. It is generally a disease that affects older people, since the median age at diagnosis is 66. It is an aggressive disease that requires immediate treatment following diagnosis.