"Leukemia rash" describes a range of skin symptoms that can come from leukemia, a type of blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow. Some people might notice tiny red spots on their arms or legs, while others may find their hair follicles are itchy and painful. Leukemia rashes can also occur as a result of some treatments, like chemotherapy.
With that said, people get rashes for many reasons, and most of the time they're not leukemia rashes. If you apply a new moisturizer that contains an irritating ingredient, touch poison ivy, or are recovering from a virus, you might very well end up with a rash. Even stress can cause a rash. In rare cases, however, a rash may be a sign of a handful of types of cancer—leukemia being one of them, as Moffitt Cancer Center points out.
Still, most people with leukemia don't get a rash, Felipe Samaniego, MD, professor in the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, Division of Cancer Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, tells Health. Other leukemia symptoms, like bruising easily and spiking a fever for no clear reason, are far more common. But leukemia rashes do occasionally crop up in people with this type of cancer.
Here's what to look for and why a leukemia rash can occur.
What does a leukemia rash look like?
Leukemia rashes can vary in appearance, depending on what's causing them. The disease itself can cause a leukemia rash, says MD Anderson Cancer Center, but so can some cancer treatments and other infections.
A leukemia rash might look like:
- petechiae, which are tiny, pinprick-sized dots that are usually red or brown
- tender nodules that are red, gray, or bluish in color
- nodules or lesions that are violet-colored
People often wonder where a leukemia rash appears, and the truth is that it can crop up anywhere on your body, including your arms, legs, torso, face, or neck, per the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). That's just one of many reasons why other skin issues can be confused for a leukemia rash, even when you don't have cancer.
Leukemia rash pictures
When leukemia cells enter the skin, asymptomatic lesions can appear, says DermNet NZ. The rashes that people develop can vary widely in their appearance, from tiny spots to large nodules.
These images depict a couple of ways that leukemia rashes can present.
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