Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) tests for diagnosis
If there’s a possibility your child could have ALL, your hospital team will run tests to confirm the diagnosis.
Tests are also done after diagnosis to find out more information about the type of ALL and how well the treatment is working. The results will help doctors decide how much treatment your child needs to get rid of the ALL, with the least side effects.
At any time, you can ask your hospital team to tell you why they’re doing a certain test and what the results mean.
Here’s a list of the tests your child is likely to have. Some are blood tests, others are done using a sample of bone marrow or cerebrospinal fluid.
This measures the number and type of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets in a blood sample and shows if there are any leukaemia cells present.
Blood cells are made in the bone marrow, so there may be leukaemia cells there even if the blood sample is normal. Bone marrow samples are taken so doctors can do a range of tests.
A lumbar puncture takes a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) – the fluid around the spinal cord and brain - and looks for leukaemia cells in it.
These look for anything unusual in the genes in leukaemia cells from a bone marrow sample.
An MRD test measures how well your child is responding to treatment. It’s done using cells from a bone marrow sample. Doctors will do an MRD test soon after diagnosis, and at other times during treatment. It’s a very accurate test that helps them decide how much treatment your child needs.
After your child is diagnosed with ALL, they will need more tests to monitor the leukaemia cells, measure how well treatment is working and check for possible complications and infections. These tests include:
- liver function test (a blood test)
- urea and electrolytes test (a blood test)
- scans including X-ray, CT, MRI, and ECHO heart scan
You'll find more detailed information about tests in our general section on childhood leukaemia.
I wish it were me...
Melody shares her thoughts on her son Andrew's diagnosis aged 3