Is a basic blood test sufficient to rule out leukemia?
My child is 3 years old, has enlarged cervical lymph nodes, ob blood tests, complete blood count showed nothing. Can a cancer, e.g. leukemia, be excluded on the basis of basic research, or is additional research needed? ~ Aga S.
Pediatric oncology / hematology is a very difficult and responsible field of medicine. The child is assessed after a thorough interview and personal examination of the child. Much depends on the nature of the cervical nodes – whether they are hard, whether they grow, whether they form packages, etc. Most often, however, are either a variant of the norm or an expression of infection. I believe that the child should be examined by a pediatric oncologist / hematologist.
Obviously, single ESR and morphology are by no means sufficient to rule out leukemia and other childhood cancers. The decision to extend the diagnosis rests with an experienced pediatrician or pediatric onco-haematologist. The options include: repeat blood counts and ESR, reliable manual peripheral blood smears, CRP and, depending on the smear, further, often more invasive tests.
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