Blood Cancer- An Overview of its Types and Treatments

Blood Cancer is one of the deadliest, yet a relatively unknown medical condition. According to CIPHER healthcare Patient Analysis, blood cancer is the fourth most common form of cancer among patients. Let us take a look at what exactly is blood cancer and all the different forms of blood cancer treatment, and how to ensure the best blood cancer treatment in India.

There are three most common types of blood cancer: Leukaemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma.

Leukaemia

Leukaemia is a cancer of the blood cells, usually white blood cells. In this form of cancer, unhealthy, damaged blood cells grow and harm the healthy blood cells in your body, preventing their growth. The source of this cancer can be traced to the patient’s bone marrow. The cancerous cells also prevent new, healthy blood cells from forming.

Usually, leukaemia is diagnosed under two categories: acute or chronic. Acute type cancer grows overnight and causes immediate problems. Chronic is slow-growing cancer, and its symptoms might not even appear until the initial few years. Apart from these, the most common types of leukaemia are acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, acute myeloid leukaemia, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and chronic myeloid leukaemia.

Lymphoma

Lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system. It appears in the cells of the lymph system, throughout the entire body, and reduces the ability to fight diseases and infections.

These are the two most common types of Lymphoma. First is Hodgkin lymphoma, which is the least deadly and easiest to diagnose and treat. This cancer causes specific white blood cells, called lymphocyte, to grow without an end. The lymphoma cells form clusters in various organs of the body. The second kind of lymphoma is Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Just like the former kind, cancerous cells in this kind form clusters, but now gather in the lymph nodes. These can be either fast or slow-growing.

Myeloma

The last kind of blood cancer is Myeloma. This is a cancer of a specific type of white blood cells, called plasma cells, and it usually begins in the bone marrow. Multiple-myeloma is when cancerous myeloma is detected to be multiple bone marrow in the patient’s body. Almost 90 per cent of all myeloma diagnosed in patients is multiple myeloma.

Treatment for blood cancer

Different types of cancers require specialised blood cancer treatments. To determine the best kind of treatment, various parameters like type of cancer, overall health, and the rate of deterioration are taken into consideration.

Common treatments for blood cancers include:

• Chemotherapy

• Radiation therapy

• Immunotherapy

• Stem cell transplantation

• Blood transfusion

• Supportive treatments