Leukemia
Leukemia is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. It can cause many symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, anemia, and bleeding. But it can also lead to sore gums. That’s a symptom of megakaryoblastic leukemia in children, according to Mayo Clinic.
Leukemia can lead to sore gums because of the side effects of certain treatments for the disease. When patients are treated for leukemia, they will often be given chemotherapy, which is a type of drug that kills all rapidly dividing cells in the body. Since blood cells reproduce more quickly than most other cells, chemotherapy can target and destroy leukemia cells.
Unfortunately, chemotherapy can also attack healthy cells, and since the mouth is filled with rapidly dividing cells, many patients experience side effects. Sore gums are one such common side effect of chemotherapy. In addition, chemo can cause several other oral problems, including shortness of breath, difficulty swallowing, and tooth sensitivity.
In the case of leukemia, the immune system starts attacking healthy cells instead of pathogens that are foreign to the body. The most common type of leukemia is acute myeloid leukemia, which affects about 20,000 Americans yearly. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is more common in adults than children.
