Occasionally, the diagnosis of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is made on routine physical examination by performing a white blood count, platelet count and red blood cell determination.

In general, common symptoms of childhood ALL include:

• Headaches, with or without vomiting
• Fever
• Shortness of breath
• Fatigue
• Frequent infections
• Painless blue or purple lumps in the neck, underarm, stomach or groin
• Pain or feeling of fullness below the ribs
• Paleness or pallor
• Easy bleeding or bruising
• Loss of appetite
• Tiny red spots (known as petechiae) under the skin
• Bone or joint pain
• Painless lumps that sometimes appear around the eyes