The goal in treating blood cancer is to achieve remission, a situation characterized by the absence of symptoms. Even in remission, a blood cancer can still start up again, so people who have experienced blood cancer may need to attend regular follow-up medical appointments and annual checkups to check for a recurrence of the cancer. Blood cancer does not appear to be preventable, but like other cancers, the risk seems to be reduced among people who eat a healthy diet, exercise, and maintain good mental health.
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People diagnosed with blood cancer can work with an oncologist, a doctor who specializes in cancer, or a hematologist, a doctor who specializes in diseases of the blood. Some patients work with both, attempting to develop a treatment plan which will be as effective as possible. Because individual cases can be quite varied, patients often benefit from second opinions to confirm the diagnosis and treatment plan.
The National Cancer Institute lists radiation exposure, smoking, and benzene exposure as risk factors for certain types of blood cancer. In more rare cases chemotherapy, Down syndrome and certain blood disorders have also been identified as risk factors.
Human T-Cell virus is also a risk factor that can cause a rare type of blood cancer called Adult T-Cell Leukemia. This virus can be passed from person to person through drug use, sexual activity, and mother to child interactions, but the cancer itself is not contagious.
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The symptoms of blood cancers are so varied that it is always best to consult a doctor and have extensive tests. You should then seek a second opinion from a specialist if your doctor hands down the blood cancer prognosis or if you are not satisfied with the first doctor’s diagnosis.
Some blood cancer symptoms are back pain, frequent headaches, weight loss, bleeding gums, nosebleeds, and many other ailments. As you can see, these symptoms are also common symptoms for ailments like migraines, intestinal disorders, gingivitis, high blood pressure, or some other medical problem. While one of these symptoms may not be reason for concern, recurring symptoms or multiple symptoms may be a signal that you should go get checked out.
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Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
Pro athletes often seem to know their bodies, and notice bodily changes early when something isn't quite right. This intuition may have led Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to seek medical help when he started to get hot flashes and night sweats last fall. Many people may have ignored these symptoms and sloughed them off as unimportant. Hot flashes may be normal for women in menopause, but not for a male basketball legend. Mr. Abdul-Jabbar's symptoms led to an early diagnosis of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).
What causes chronic myelogenous leukemia?
Chronic myelogenous leukemia is a rare type of leukemia that tends to affect older males. More than 90% of cases are due to a gene abnormality caused when two chromosomes swap sections with each other. There are 23 chromosomes in humans, and in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia chromosomes 9 and 22 within blood cells exchange bits of genetic material to form a Philadelphia chromosome, named after the city where it was discovered. The new gene on this chromosome makes a protein called tyrosine kinase that allows white blood cells to grow out of control; moreover, these abnormal white blood cells tend not to become old and die. The bone marrow, where red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are made, becomes filled with white blood cells crowding out the normal cells and damaging the bone marrow itself. This can impair the ability of the bone marrow to manufacture normal amounts of blood cells.
Blood cancer is a generalized term for malignancy which attacks the blood, bone marrow, or lymphatic system. There are three kinds of blood cancer: leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma.
Leukemia is malignancy of cells in the blood. Lymphoma refers to malignant tumors of the lymph system. Myeloma is malignancy of plasma cells. Plasma cells are the cells in bone marrow that produce antibodies. Collectively they are called Hematological malignancies.
Some of the common blood cancer symptoms:
* Weakness, Fatigue, Malaise and Breathlessness
* Minimal body strain results inbone fractures
* Excessive or easy bruising
* Bleeding gums or frequent nose bleeds
* Recurrent infections or fever
* Excessive sweating of body during night
* Weight loss
* Frequent vomiting sensations
* Anorexia
* Lymph node (gland) enlargement
* Lumps or abdominal distension due to enlarged abdominal organs
* Abdominal pain, Bone pain and Back pain
* Delirium and confusion
* Abnormal bleeding in gums nose and cuts, which will result in platelet reduction
* Headaches with occurrence of visual difficulties
* Occurrence of fine rashes on dark spots
* Decreased urination and difficulty while urinating
Some of the specific leukemia blood cancer symptoms are anemia, recurrent infections, bone and joint pain, abdominal distress and difficult in breathing or dyspnea.
In case of lymphomas blood cancer the symptoms depend on location of cancer, where it has spread, and the size of the tumor. It begins with swelling in the neck, underarm, or groin.
The first sign of multiple myeloma is bone pain due to bony destruction by plasma cells. Some of the prominent symptoms include bleeding gums, nose bleeds and easy bruising. Unexplained bone fractures, kidney failure, persistent infections and weight loss are other signs of the disease.
Read the rest of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment »
Latest Statistical Facts about Blood Cancer in United States:
* Symptoms of blood cancer are confirmed using the Diagnostic test – Biopsy.
* After every 4 minutes, an individual from America is diagnosed with blood cancer by such tests.
* Every 10 minutes, this disease takes the life of an individual.
* It means 146 people die every day because of this disease.
* Approximately 1,39,860 people are going to be diagnosed with all the three types of blood cancer in the year 2009.
* These people constitute 9.5% of the total number of new cancer cases ( 1,479, 350 ) diagnosed in the whole country.
* 53,240 people out of the 1,39,860 diagnosed, are estimated to lose their lives this year owing to this dreadful disease.
* The total cancer deaths estimated in the year 2009 are 5,62,340.
* Blood cancer deaths will comprise 9.5% of these deaths.
* Leukemia is the most common type of blood cancer in children affecting the age group of 0-19 years.
* It comprises 31% of cancers affecting the children in United States.
* 2,655 children within the mentioned age group, are estimated to be diagnosed with this disease in 2009.
* The symptoms of blood cancer remain latent and dangerously make the disease apparent in its last stages.
Does Cancer cause Blood Clots ?
Research studies conducted at the University of L’Aquila, Italy suggest that children suffering from Leukemia are at high risks of facing Thrombosis while they are provided the cancer treatment. Thrombosis is the technical name given to clotting of blood in the deep veins of the body. In the research, 1,752 children suffering from this dreadful disease were considered. In 5.2% of these children, the study found the complication of blood clotting. The researchers however were successful in finding out the therapies and medical procedures for addressing the risk of blood clotting.
What is chronic leukaemia?
Leukaemia literally means ‘many white cells in the blood'.
The white cells are part of the body’s immune system, and there are several sub-groups of white cells that have different sorts of roles in recognising and dealing with ‘invaders’ such as bacteria and viruses as well as other types of foreign protein.
All of the blood cells originate in the bone marrow and leukaemia (blood cancer) is a disease where the bone marrow produces large numbers of abnormal white cells. This means that the normal marrow is pushed into smaller and smaller areas. This results in fewer normal cells being produced and gives rise to some of the symptoms.
There are many types of leukaemia, each of which is classified according to the exact cell type affected by the disease.
Chronic leukaemia is a slowly progressive form of leukaemia and tends to involve more mature cell types. It may not need treatment immediately, but if treatment is required it is usually chemotherapy, given in the form of tablets.
The cause of leukaemia is not known.
What are the symptoms of chronic leukaemia?
It is possible to have chronic leukaemia for months or even years without knowing it.
The symptoms are varied, but many people notice:
* tiredness (due to anaemia)
* bruising easily (often without having had any blow or fall)
* repeated infections
* enlarged lymph glands
* weight loss
* night sweats
* fever.
What is chronic lymphocytic leukaemia?
Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is the commonest type of leukaemia with 3000 to 4000 new cases diagnosed each year in the UK. It is a form of chronic leukaemia characterised by an increased number of lymphocytes, which make up one of the main sub-groups of white cells in the blood. Despite their increased numbers these lymphocytes lack the normal ability of responding to infection by the production of antibodies, so compromising the immune system of the affected person.
CLL is rarely found in people under the age of 40 - the peak age is 65. It is twice as common in men than in women. There are no obvious causes known for CLL.
What are the symptoms of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia?
In addition to the symptoms mentioned above which are common to all forms of leukaemia, specific signs of the disease are:
* painless enlargement of the lymph glands especially in the neck, armpits and groin.
* lymph glands in deeper parts of the body may need special scans for diagnosis.
* sometimes an enlarged spleen (located in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen) may cause discomfort or pain.
How is chronic lymphocytic leukaemia diagnosed?
Often the condition is diagnosed by chance when blood tests are being performed for other reasons.
Although a blood test may give doctors the diagnosis, a bone marrow test is usually done to confirm the diagnosis. Special tests are performed on these samples to help classify the leukaemia as this will influence the kind of treatment required.
Scans and X-rays may also be performed in order to help doctors decide on the best treatment.
How is chronic lymphocytic leukaemia treated?
Treatment is not always required and the patient may just be followed up as an outpatient on a regular basis, sometimes for many years, with no need for further action.
Older people with early stage CLL have a normal life expectancy. Treatment in the form of chemotherapy will be required for those who are unwell or who have many enlarged lymph glands, or who become significantly anaemic.
Chemotherapy is usually given in the form of tablets (usually a medicine called chlorambucil (Leukeran)). Other chemotherapy drugs such as fludarabine (Fludara) (may be used in late stage disease. General bone marrow production of blood cells can occur in more advanced CLL (bone marrow failure) in which steroid treatment with prednisolone (eg Deltacortril) usually allows the bone marrow to recover. Milder degrees of bone marrow failure might adequately be controlled by periodic blood transfusion.
X-ray treatment (radiotherapy) can be given locally, to swollen lymph nodes, or in small repeated doses to the whole body. Infections are more common in people with CLL and need to be diagnosed early and treated vigorously.
Sometimes the spleen, which is also part of the body’s immune system swells up so much in CLL that it gives rise to pain, or it causes a type of anaemia to develop in which the red cells of the blood (oxygen-carrying cells) become fragile, leading to further anaemia. These problems may justify the surgical removal of the spleen.
Bone marrow transplantation may be considered for those patients who are less than 45 years of age and who have an aggressive form of the disease.
Cancer blood tests: Lab tests used in cancer diagnosis
Cancer blood tests and other laboratory tests may help your doctor make a cancer diagnosis. Reduce your anxiety by learning about cancer blood tests and how they're used.
By Mayo Clinic staff
Blood tests alone can rarely, if ever, show the presence or absence of cancer. If it's suspected that you have cancer, your doctor may order certain cancer blood tests or other laboratory tests, such as an analysis of your urine or a biopsy of a suspicious area, to help guide the diagnosis. While cancer blood tests generally can't absolutely tell whether you have cancer or some other noncancerous condition, they can give your doctor clues about what's going on inside your body.