What is blood cancer?
Blood cancer affects how your body produces blood cells and how well those cells work. Most blood cancers start in your bone marrow, which produces stem cells that mature into red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.
Your blood cells serve many vital functions to your body, like fighting infections, carrying oxygen throughout your body and controlling bleeding. When these cells become cancerous, it affects their ability to perform these tasks, creating a ripple effect of other medical conditions.
What are the types of blood cancer?
There are three types of blood cancer types:
- Leukemia is the most common blood cancer in the United States and among children and teenagers.
- Lymphoma is cancer of your lymphatic system, which includes your bone marrow.
- Myeloma is a cancer that starts in your bone marrow and affects your plasma cells.
What causes and risk factors of blood cancer?
Blood cancer occurs when the blood cell DNA changes or mutates. When DNA gives your cells new instructions, the abnormal cells grow and multiply faster than normal, which crowds out the healthy blood cells. Eventually, your bone marrow produces fewer normal cells, which means there aren’t enough normal cells to carry out their vital functions.
Certain factors can play a role in developing blood cancer, including:
- Radiation exposure
- Certain chemicals
- Lowered immunity due to infections
- Family history of blood cancer
What are symptoms of blood cancer?
The symptoms of blood cancer vary based on the type of cancer, but most commonly include:
- Fever
- Fatigue
- Night sweats
- Unusual bleeding or bruising
- Unexplained weight loss
- Frequent infections
- Swollen lymph nodes or an enlarged liver or spleen
- Bone pain
How is blood cancer diagnosed and treated?
To diagnose blood cancer, your provider will perform an examination and order several kinds of blood and imaging tests. These tests may differ depending on the suspected type of blood cancer, which may include:
Because not all blood cancers are the same, their treatments will differ as well. Your provider will consider the type of blood cancer, treatment side effects, age and your overall health when determining a course of treatment. Some of the most common treatments include:
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation therapy
- Immunotherapy
- Targeted therapy
- T-cell therapy