Blood cancer or leukemia is the cancer that originates in the tissue that forms blood. White blood cells or leukocytes and red blood cells or erythrocytes together compose blood. The unusual proliferation of leukocytes is the causal element of blood cancer. Also known as bone marrow cancer, this disease springs up in the bone marrow where bloods cells i.e. red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets are produced. In leukemic patients, the white blood cells do not die after completing their life cycle causing overabundance of leukocytes. Thus one of the major blood cancer symptoms and signs includes lack of blood platelets which play an important role in clotting of blood. Thus, excessive bleeding and bruising like a peach are major blood cancer symptoms.

White blood cells are mainly responsible for providing immunity to the body against various diseases. When they do not function properly the body becomes susceptible to various disorders. Being easily infected with diarrhea, tonsils, pneumonia or sores in the mouth are also blood cancer symptoms. Some patients may experience fever, shivering, chills, night sweats, feeling fatigued and other flu like signs which may be blood cancer symptoms. Also, the onset of anemia, which is a result of the loss of red blood cells, is another one of the blood cancer symptoms.

Sometimes the liver and spleen may swell up due to leukemia. This causes patients to feel full thereby resulting in unintentional weight loss. This along with constant headaches (which may occur of blood cancer cells invade the central nervous system) blood cancer symptoms which should never be ignored.

Some other blood cancer symptoms are weakness, breathlessness, malaise, nose bleeds, bleeding gums, anorexia, enlargement of the lymph node, weak bones, pain in the bones or joints, back pain, fractured bones with minimum impact, swelling or pain in the abdomen, fluid retention, delirium, visual disturbances, decreased urination, etc.

As most blood cancer symptoms are associated with other diseases, leukemia is more often than not diagnosed with medical tests. These tests include blood cells, lymph node biopsy and bone marrow biopsy. Blood tests can sometimes be deceptive as the large number of white blood cells may not show in the blood smear seen under a slide. This occurs when the leukocytes are still trapped in the bone marrow and have not yet entered the blood stream. This is known as Aleukemia and is mostly seen in hairy cell leukemia.