Symptoms of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)

The main symptoms are:

• looking pale and feeling tired and breathless, which is due to anaemia caused by a lack of red blood cells
• having more infections than usual, because of a lack of healthy white blood cells
• unusual bleeding caused by too few platelets - this may include bruising (bruises may appear without any apparent injury), heavy periods in women, bleeding gums, nosebleeds and blood spots or rashes on the skin (petechiae)
• feeling generally unwell and run down
• having a fever and sweats, which may be due to an infection or the leukaemia itself.

Other less common symptoms may be caused by a build-up of leukaemia cells in a particular area of the body. Your bones might ache, caused by the pressure from a build-up of immature cells in the bone marrow. You might also notice raised, bluish-purple areas under the skin due to leukaemia cells in the skin, or swollen gums caused by leukaemia cells in the gums.

Occasionally, a person has no symptoms and the leukaemia is discovered during a routine blood test.

Symptoms may appear over a few weeks, and people often feel ill quite quickly. If you have any of the symptoms mentioned here, you should have them checked by your doctor - but remember they are common to many illnesses other than leukaemia.