Childhood Leukemia
Recognized as a Top 50 Cancer Program by U.S. News & World Report 2025-2026
Having a child diagnosed with leukemia is an overwhelming moment for a family. Our expert team helps you navigate this new world as smoothly as possible in the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Why Choose Johns Hopkins All Children’s
Our patients and families receive care from a devoted team that provides individualized attention, treatment and emotional support. Your child’s care team will be with you and your family throughout the process, helping every step of the way, and we work closely with specialists throughout the hospital to provide your child with care that meets their unique needs.
When your child comes to us for treatment, you can expect:
- Experience and expertise: We are among the largest pediatric cancer programs in southwest Florida, and our experience and high volume leads to better outcomes for all our patients.
- Advanced treatments: We offer patients advanced chemotherapy and immunotherapy, lifesaving bone marrow transplants and CAR T-cell therapy.
- Expanded safety measures: Our oncology ward is specially designed to help reduce infection transmission. We know that treatment for leukemia can leave children at higher risk for infectious diseases, and we take every precaution to prevent that.
- High success rates: Our innovative treatments are saving the lives of children with blood cancer.
- Cancer screening program: If one child in your family has an inherited gene mutation (cancer predisposition gene) associated with blood cancer, we can screen siblings, carefully monitoring them for the earliest signs of cancer, as part of our Cancer Predisposition Program.
- Access to clinical trials: Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital is a member of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) and the only Florida-based site in the Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trials Network (PEP-CTN). As such, Johns Hopkins All Children’s serves as a critical access point for early-phase, precision-guided clinical trials for patients across Florida and beyond. Johns Hopkins All Children’s is also a member of the Sunshine Project Consortium and the Beat Childhood Cancer Consortium (BCC) and serves as a site for both investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored clinical trials.
- Compassionate care: Our multidisciplinary team is committed to supporting you and your child through every step of the process.
Ryan Jr. Embraces Life After Long Cancer Battle
Eight-year-old Ryan is a true warrior. Diagnosed with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in 2021, Ryan has overcome many challenges along his path to better health. Find out how an expert clinical care team at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital has cared for Ryan every step of the way so that he can thrive today.
Conditions We Treat in the Leukemia Program
Leukemia can be either acute (comes on quickly and progresses rapidly) or chronic (slower to grow and progress). There are three main types of childhood leukemia:
- Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL): This is the most common type of leukemia in children. It affects infants, children and teenagers, but is most common in 1 to 10-year-olds. ALL starts in white blood cells called lymphocytes and progresses rapidly without treatment.
- Acute myeloid leukemia (AML): AML can affect very young children and adolescents. The disease starts in myeloid cells that normally mature into white or red blood cells or platelets.
- Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML): This type of leukemia in children is rare. The disease starts in the myeloid cells but progresses much more slowly than AML.
Leukemia Treatment and Care
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If your child has symptoms of leukemia, your doctor will order various tests to confirm a diagnosis. These tests may include:
- Complete blood count (CBC): Your child’s doctor will take a blood sample and analyze it. A CBC reveals the number of each type of blood cells and whether any of the blood cells look abnormal.
- Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy: Using a thin, hollow needle, we remove bone marrow samples to check for signs of leukemia.
- Lumbar puncture: This test is sometimes called a spinal tap. We use a thin, hollow needle to remove a spinal fluid sample and check it for leukemia cells.
With the right treatment, many children survive leukemia. Your child’s doctor will explain the benefits and risks of your treatment options. Recommended therapies depend on your child’s age, type of leukemia and overall health.
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At your child’s first pediatric oncology visit, you will meet the care team, review medical history and any prior test results, and discuss the diagnosis or next steps in evaluation. We will explain the recommended treatment plan, possible side effects, and what the timeline may look like. Our team will also review supportive resources and ensure you leave with a clear plan and contact information for questions or urgent concerns.
At follow-up visits, we will check in on how your child is feeling, review lab results, and monitor for side effects or response to treatment. If your child is receiving chemotherapy or other medications by infusion, visits may last several hours, along with time for medications and supportive care. We will review symptoms to watch for at home and ensure you know how to reach our team between visits for any concerns.
Learn more about Leukemia
What is Leukemia?
Leukemia is a blood cancer that causes abnormal white blood cells to grow in the bone marrow and move into the bloodstream. The leukemia cells multiply, taking space away from healthy white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets. Without enough healthy white blood cells, children with leukemia are less able to fight off infection. A lack of healthy red blood cells can cause fatigue, shortness of breath and other symptoms. A low level of platelets causes easy bleeding and bruising.
What causes leukemia in children?
Researchers still don’t have answers to this question. In most cases, your child’s doctor won’t be able to pinpoint a specific cause. Some evidence suggests that gene mutations (changes) may play a role in childhood leukemia. The mutations may be inherited (passed down from parents), or the genes may mutate after conception or birth.
Having chemotherapy or radiation to treat another type of cancer can increase your child’s risk of developing leukemia. And children who have Down syndrome or Li-Fraumeni syndrome are also at a higher risk for the disease.
What are symptoms of leukemia in children?
As leukemia cells multiply, they interfere with the production of healthy blood cells and bone marrow function. This can lead to a wide range of symptoms, including:
- Loss of appetite or weight loss
- Bleeding easily (including frequent nosebleeds or bleeding gums)
- Bone or joint pain
- Bruising easily
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Frequent infections
- Pale skin
- Shortness of breath
- Swollen lymph nodes
Valentina Brings Sunny Disposition to Her Cancer Care
When 8-year-old Valentina began having fevers and low blood counts, her doctors in Guatemala were stumped. But her aunt lives in Florida and knew about Johns Hopkins All Children’s, where Valentina and her family were able to find the care she needed for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
