Leukemia causes symptoms.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia . These symptoms can include fever , increased risk of infection ( especially bacterial infections like pneumonia , due to neutropenia ; symptoms of such an infection include shortness of breath , chest pain , cough , vomiting ) , increased tendency to bleed ( due to thrombocytopenia ) , and signs indicative of anemia , including pallor , tachycardia ( high heart rate ) , fatigue , and headache . Acute myeloid leukemia . The symptoms of AML are caused by replacement of normal bone marrow with leukemic cells , which causes a drop in red blood cells , platelets , and normal white blood cells . These symptoms include fatigue , shortness of breath , easy bruising and bleeding , and increased risk of infection . Leukemia . There are four main types of leukemia -- acute lymphoblastic leukemia ( ALL ) , acute myeloid leukemia ( AML ) , chronic lymphocytic leukemia ( CLL ) and chronic myeloid leukemia ( CML ) -- as well as a number of less common types .