Blood cancer Symptoms, Types and Treatment
What is blood cancer?
The blood cancers or the hematologic cancers affect the production and function of your blood cells, Most of these cancers start in your bone marrow where the blood is produced, The stem cells in your bone marrow mature and develop into three types of blood cells which are red blood cells , white blood cells , or the platelets.
In the most blood cancers, the normal blood cell development process is interrupted by the uncontrolled growth of the abnormal type of the blood cell, These abnormal blood cells or cancerous cells prevent your blood from performing many of its functions such as fighting off infections or preventing serious bleeding.
The cancerous formation can attack any organic system of the human physiology, As part of the blood cancer, the rapidly multiplying cancerous cells are found attacking the different aspects of the circulatory system, Besides the blood and the lymphatic system, the bone marrow can also be the focus of attack.
Types of blood cancers
Leukemia is cancer that originates in the blood-forming tissue, It is a type of cancer found in your blood and bone marrow, It is caused by the rapid production of the abnormal white blood cells, The high number of abnormal white blood cells can not fight the infection, and they impair the ability of the bone marrow to produce red blood cells and the platelets.
Blood cancer
Leukaemia affects your white blood cells, These are an important, infection-fighting part of your immune system, they made in your bone marrow, The acute leukaemia comes on suddenly, progresses quickly and it needs to be treated urgently, Chronic leukaemia develops more slowly, over months or years.
Lymphoma is the type of blood cancer which affects the lymphatic system that removes the excess fluids from your body and it produces the immune cells, Lymphocytes are the type of white blood cell which fight the infection.
The abnormal lymphocytes become lymphoma cells that multiply and they collect in your lymph nodes and the other tissues, Over time, these cancerous cells impair your immune system.
Hodgkin lymphoma is cancer which develops in the lymphatic system from the cells called the lymphocytes, Hodgkin lymphoma is marked by the presence of the abnormal lymphocyte called Reed-Sternberg cell (or B lymphocyte).
Myeloma is the cancer of the plasma cells, The plasma cells are white blood cells which produce disease and infection-fighting antibodies in your body, Myeloma cells prevent the normal production of the antibodies, leaving your body’s immune system weakened and susceptible to the infection.
Blood cancer symptoms
There are some common blood cancer symptoms which are fever, chills, persistent fatigue, the weakness, loss of appetite, nausea, the unexplained weight loss, night sweats, bone/joint pain, and the abdominal discomfort.
blood cancer symptoms include also shortness of breath, the headaches, frequent infections, itchy skin or skin rash, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, underarms, and groin.
Blood cancer treatment & therapy options
The blood cancer affects a large number of people, The treatment for the blood cancer depends on the type of cancer, your age, how fast cancer is progressing, where cancer has spread and other factors.
Some common blood cancer treatments include the stem cell transplantation, The stem cell transplant infuses healthy blood-forming stem cells into the body, Stem cells can be collected from the bone marrow, circulating ( peripheral ) blood and the umbilical cord blood.
The chemotherapy is the use of anticancer drugs designed to interfere with and halt the growth of cancer cells in the body, Chemotherapy for the blood cancer sometimes consists of giving several drugs together in a set regimen, It may also be given before a stem cell transplant.
The chemotherapy involves taking the drugs which destroy the cancer cells which are growing and multiplying, hopefully putting it into remission or significantly slowing down the progression of the disease, Because the cancer cells grow and multiply faster than the healthy cells.
The radiation therapy or Radiotherapy works by using high-energy X-rays to kill the cancer cells, It may be used to destroy the cancer cells or to relieve pain or discomfort, It may also be given before the stem cell transplant, and it can treat some types of leukaemia and lymphoma.
The radiotherapy can also damage the normal cells that can cause the side effects, These vary greatly for each person, some experiencing mild symptoms such as tiredness while for others it can be more debilitating.
When radiotherapy finishes, most of your body’s healthy cells will continue to grow normally again, But Radiotherapy can have long-term side effects.
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