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What are signs and symptoms for ALL, and which ones may get overlooked?
Elias Jabbour
September 10, 2025
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For World ALL Day 2025, Know ALL spoke to Dr Elias Jabbour, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, US. We asked, What are the signs and symptoms of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and which ones might get overlooked?
During this interview, Dr Jabbour explained that ALL does not usually present with one specific symptom but with a combination of problems, caused by the leukemia cells overcrowding the bone marrow. As the bone marrow loses its ability to produce healthy blood cells, patients may feel increasingly tired or short of breath because of low red blood cells, may bruise or bleed more easily due to a shortage of platelets, and may develop frequent fevers or infections because of low numbers of normal white blood cells.Leukemia can also spread beyond the bone marrow to other parts of the body. This may cause swelling of the lymph nodes, enlargement of the spleen, stomach pain, or, in some cases, symptoms affecting the brain such as headaches.
Dr Jabbour emphasized that none of these symptoms are unique to ALL, since they can also occur with other illnesses. However, persistent fatigue, unexplained bleeding, or repeated infections should always be checked by a doctor, as blood tests can reveal early changes that may lead to diagnosis.
This educational resource is independently supported by Amgen. All content was developed by SES in collaboration with an expert ambassador group. Funders were allowed no influence on the content of this resource.
