When someone has this disease, the cells normally produced in the bone marrow, such as white blood cells, which fight infection; red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body; and platelets, which help form blood clots, will be crowded out by abnormal leukemia cells. In addition to symptoms like nausea, fever, fatigue, weight loss, and infections, leukemia can also produce a variety of skin problems such as bruising, skin rashes, and bleeding. “We see a few major categories of skin findings in patients with leukemia,” says Amy Forrestel, MD, director of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania. “The most common skin condition is bleeding into the skin.” In other cases, some have no skin conditions, Dr. Forrestel says. “It depends on the type of leukemia. The more aggressive ones that require stem cell therapy or chemotherapy almost always have skin findings.” Capillaries burst underneath the skin, and if there aren’t enough platelets to block damaged capillaries, blood leaks into the skin, Forrestel says. In addition to petechiae (red dots on the skin), this can appear as purpura (larger red or purple areas), or ecchymoses (bruises), she says. According to Forrestel, these spots usually take weeks to go away, but gentle skin care and avoiding trauma when possible can also help prevent the condition. “It looks like red-brown to purple firm bumps or nodules and represents the leukemia cells depositing in the skin,” Forrestel says. “Treatment for leukemia cutis is simply treating the specific type of leukemia. There’s nothing separately we do to treat the lesions.”
3. Folliculitis
Once the infection has been diagnosed, healthcare providers prescribe the appropriate antibacterial or antifungal therapy, which may include cream or oral medication, according to Forrestel.
