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Lab and Imaging Tests

Doctors use several different lab and imaging tests to help detect (diagnose) a blood cancer (leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, myelodysplastic syndromes or myeloproliferative disease). You may need to undergo additional tests to confirm your diagnosis.

Once your diagnosis is confirmed, your doctor may need to test you for certain genetic, cellular or molecular characteristics that will help him or her treat your specific diagnosis.

Your doctor considers these test results along with information from your physical examination and detailed medical history to:

Chemotherapy and Drug Therapy

There are many different types of drugs used in the treatment of MDS.

Immunosuppressive Therapy. Drugs that suppress certain parts of the immune system can help some patients with lower-risk MDS. In some types of MDS, lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, may attack the bone marrow, causing it to stop making enough healthy blood cells. Immunosuppressive therapy lowers the body’s immune response to allow bone marrow stem cells to grow and make new blood cells. The main immunosuppressive therapy drugs used to treat MDS are:

Diagnosis

An accurate diagnosis of the type of leukemia is important. The exact diagnosis helps the doctor estimate how the disease will progress and determine the appropriate treatment.

Diagnosing acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and the AML subtype usually involves a series of tests. Some of these tests may be repeated during and after therapy to measure the effects of treatment.

George

My awareness of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) began years ago when a close family member was diagnosed with leukemia. In the wake of such devastating news, I felt compelled to lend a hand.  I am honored to join the LLS family in their fight to cure blood cancers.

Lucille

I was diagnosed with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) in October 2019, at the age of 57. After experiencing months of symptoms such as severe fatigue, bruising easily, and shortness of breath.

Kaidyn

Kaidyn was only six months old when he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). About two months later, he received a bone marrow aspiration and was started on chemotherapy. Over the next ten months, Kaidyn was in and out of Children's Hospital of Oakland. It was there that he took his first steps, said his first words, and even flirted with every nurse in the oncology unit! Kaidyn is now a healthy three-year-old boy with an ear-to-ear grin who participates in his local Light The Night Walk each fall.

Shelley

Twenty years ago I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). My husband, Remi and I were married and just moved to Virginia, where Remi was stationed in the Navy. In the short six weeks we lived there, I never felt 100% and I was at the doctor four times in six weeks. At my last appointment, I requested that they draw my blood. They told me I had mono, my counts were so low, they took me by ambulance to the nearest hospital.

Understanding Different Types of Treatments

Treatment options vary for the different types of blood cancer. Your choices depend on your specific diagnosis, age, cytogenetic analysis (an examination of the chromosomes in your marrow, blood and lymph node cells), overall health and other factors.

Your treatment plan might include:

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell Therapy

On this page:

Taylor

Hello! I am Taylor, and most people know me for being a human biology premed student at the University of California San Diego. However, what most people don’t know is I was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in March of this year. I have systemic mastocytosis (SM) which leads to lots of anaphylactic reactions and hospital visits. I spend lots of time getting tests because my cancer is rare and infusions at the cancer center. I have had several types of chemotherapy drugs and many biopsies.

Nathaniel

Hi! Nathaniel here, but you can call me Nate. I am an 18-year-old North Carolina Scholar, 2015 graduate of Franklinton High School who graduated with high honors. I am a future student of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, majoring in mechanical engineering. I am a son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, boyfriend, friend, percussionist, musician, scholarship recipient, car and truck enthusiast, minority mentor, and an all around "Renaissance Man" with a philanthropist heart. I also have cancer

Joe

After being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in March of 2011 when I was only 10 years old, my entire life changed and was put on hold. I went through months of treatments to slow down the cancer, looked for the best possible hospitals in my area, and was able to get a bone marrow transplant in August 2011 from my brother who was a matched donor. I wasn't even close to stopping there. Once I was feeling better, I could do home instruction school from my house so I wouldn't fall behind, and some of my friends were allowed to visit me at home.

Nancy

I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2008. For a year, I was in the “watch and wait” category with no treatment until the disease progressed. In April 2009 I progressed to “active disease” and began treatments followed by an autologous stem cell transplant in January 2010.

Nikolette

I was truly honored to be a recipient of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Scholarship for Blood Cancer Survivors. After fighting two different types of cancer, both forms of lymphoma and leukemia, I was unsure what my collegiate education would look like. I had to medically withdraw from my freshman year of college at Penn State University in the fall of 2018 when I received my second diagnosis. My family and I were completely devastated, but I was able to successfully undergo a bone marrow transplant and have been showing no evidence of disease (NED) for 3½ years now!

Cary

Cary was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in the fall of 2012. After spending more than 100 days in the hospital, undergoing intense chemo treatments, and blood transfusions Cary is now in remission. You can only imagine the struggle and heartache a cancer diagnoses was at only 33 years of age with a wife, 3 small boys, and a career.

Janel

Throughout my childhood, my grandmother instilled in me the importance of helping those in need and gave generously to various charities and organizations. Her unwavering dedication to serving others inspired me to continue her legacy and give back to my community.

Cooper

I am Cooper, and I am a leukemia survivor. I am 26 and creating businesses around the creativity space. I am a healer and author of multiple books. I was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of seven. I did treatment for 2½ years with chemotherapy. I have been in remission for 16 years. I am grateful to be here. I have donated around $100,000 to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). I have done Pennies for Patients (PFP), Student Of The Year (SOY), and been an Honored Hero for multiple events. My high school raised $10,000 in one week for PFP.

Glenis

The body is ultimately wise. Through this most recent medical ordeal, I learned to listen to what my body was telling me. In 2018, I felt symptoms above and beyond the fibromyalgia ailments that I had been plagued with for 25 years. I had unusual inflammation despite eating healthy and walking on a regular basis. I developed an unrelenting throb of pain in my lower back. My internal medicine doctor at the time dismissed my complaints.

NHL Staging

Once your doctor confirms an NHL diagnosis, he or she will determine the extent of your disease's progression by staging. Staging helps your doctor predict the disease's progression and develop a treatment plan.

Imaging Tests

Your doctor conducts one or more imaging tests along with a physical exam, to evaluate:

Jessica

Last spring, I was a normal college junior. I had just returned from spring break in the Caribbean with my best friends, and my biggest problem was party planning my 21st birthday that was coming up.

I had a bump on my neck for a few months at that point. I visited several doctors who all assured me it was just a normal swollen lymph node and nothing to be concerned about. My family decided to fly me home for a weekend to get checked out by my pediatrician who we trust. My pediatrician took the lead for further testing.

Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation

In autologous stem cell transplantation, the procedure uses the patient’s own stem cells for the transplant. The stem cells are collected from the patient in advance and are frozen. After the patient undergoes high doses of chemotherapy, either with or without radiation therapy, the stem cells are then returned to the body. This type of transplant is often used to treat blood cancers such as Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma.  

Diagnosis

Having the correct diagnosis is important for getting the right treatment. Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) may be difficult to diagnosis. You may want to get a second medical opinion by an experienced hematopathologist before you begin treatment. A hematopathologist is a specialist who studies blood and bone marrow cells and other tissues to help diagnose diseases of the blood, bone marrow and lymph system.

Diagnosis

An accurate diagnosis is one of the most important aspects of a person’s care. Obtaining a precise diagnosis will help the doctor

• Determine the MDS subtype 
• Estimate how the disease will progress
• Determine the most appropriate treatment

Since MDS can be a difficult disease to diagnose, you may want to get a second medical opinion by an experienced hematopathologist before you begin treatment.

Lena

In 2018, I had what I thought was a urinary tract infection (UTI). It ended up being a tumor in my bladder the size of a lime. It turned out to be diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (DLBCL). I ended up doing six rounds of R-CHOP chemo with Neulasta® and a month of radiation afterward. I am grateful to be alive but do have lingering side effects with chemo brain/memory loss, neuropathy in my hands and right arm, loss of taste for certain foods/drinks, and weight gain from prednisone.

Kelly

In 2001, I was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) at age three and survived thanks to three and a half years of intense treatment at the City of Hope Los Angeles. I am now 25 years old, a college graduate, and working for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), hoping to give back to those who helped save my life. I have volunteered with LLS since 2009 after being chosen as their "Girl of the Year" to inspire candidates to raise money for blood cancer research. In 2017, I became a candidate for the Student of the Year campaign raising over $60,000 in seven weeks.