Can leukemia cause toothache?

Written by Zhang Xiao Le
Hematology
Updated on June 26, 2025
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Leukemia, particularly acute leukemia, is characterized by leukemic cells losing their ability to differentiate and mature, remaining at various stages of cell development. This results in a significant reduction in mature, functional white blood cells. Consequently, patients with acute leukemia have extremely low immune function. Therefore, more than half of the patients initially present with fever as the primary symptom. Fever indicates infection, which can spread to multiple parts of the body, with oral inflammation, gingivitis, and pharyngitis being the most common. Thus, patients with acute leukemia who also have gingivitis may experience toothache.

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Is bleeding gums leukemia?

Gum bleeding is not necessarily leukemia; it could also be gingivitis, periodontitis, or other diseases of the hematopoietic system. Gum bleeding is a common clinical symptom of gingivitis, caused by irritants like dental plaque and tartar around the teeth, keeping the gum tissue in a congested state. If persistent, this can lead to gum bleeding. This condition can be improved by dental cleaning, followed by medicated rinses around the teeth. If the situation does not improve, it may be due to periapical abscess caused by periapical inflammation of the tooth, which can also result in gum bleeding. In this case, root canal treatment is required, and once the inflammation in the root canal is controlled, the gum bleeding may alleviate on its own. If neither of these treatments is effective, it could be due to an underlying hematopoietic system disease, which would require further examination.

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Is chronic myeloid leukemia scary?

Chronic myeloid leukemia, though a type of leukemia, is not terrifying because there are targeted drugs available for it, namely tyrosine kinase inhibitors. These inhibitors have been developed into first, second, and third-generation products. Most cases of chronic granulocytic leukemia can achieve clinical remission after oral administration of tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Some patients might experience a blast crisis, acceleration phase, or relapse during treatment, but they can switch to higher-grade tyrosine kinase inhibitors or undergo allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Thus, chronic myeloid leukemia is no longer considered a frightening disease. (Please use medication under the guidance of a doctor.)

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How is acute leukemia chemotherapeutically treated?

Acute leukemia is first divided into two main categories: one is acute myeloid leukemia, and the other is acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The chemotherapy regimens for these two types are different. Among them, acute myeloid leukemia is further divided into eight types from M0 to M7, among which type M3 can be treated with oral targeted chemotherapy drugs, while other types of acute myeloid leukemia require chemotherapy for treatment. The other main category is acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which also requires chemotherapy for treatment.

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Chronic granulocytic leukemia symptoms

The clinical symptoms of chronic myeloid leukemia can be divided into two phases: 1. During the chronic phase, the earliest subjective symptoms include fatigue, dizziness, and abdominal discomfort. Other symptoms may also appear such as general malaise, decreased endurance, and nausea. Some patients may exhibit signs of increased basal metabolism, such as sweating, weight loss, palpitations, and nervousness. As the disease progresses, patients may experience enlargement of the liver and spleen. An enlarged spleen can cause abdominal bloating, discomfort in the upper left abdomen, and a feeling of fullness after eating. In a few cases, bleeding may occur in the early stages. In female patients, excessive menstruation is common, and while bone pain and joint pain are less common at initial diagnosis, they can also occur. 2. During the accelerated phase, patients often exhibit unexplained low-grade fever, fatigue, lack of appetite, night sweats, and increased weight loss. These symptoms are accompanied by rapid enlargement of the spleen causing discomfort and fullness, sudden swelling of lymph nodes, clear sternal tenderness, and osteolytic changes in bones leading to bone pain. Anemia also progressively worsens. Once patients enter the blast crisis phase, they may show extramedullary infiltration symptoms such as skin nodules, testicular infiltration, abnormal penile erections, and the appearance of green tumors in the eye sockets, among other serious complications.

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Can leukemia be cured?

Leukemia is a broad category of diseases. Some leukemia patients can achieve clinical cure through oral chemotherapy or intravenous chemotherapy, while others can only achieve cure through allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Among them, chronic granulocytic leukemia can be clinically cured through oral chemotherapy due to the availability of targeted drug treatments, resulting in a longer survival period. In the case of acute promyelocytic leukemia, the advent of drugs like retinoic acid and arsenic trioxide has enabled patients to achieve clinical cure through a combination of oral and intravenous chemotherapy. However, many other types of leukemia often require allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to reach clinical cure.