Blood Cancer

Any form of blood-associated cancer is known as blood cancer. Blood cancer is caused due to irregularities in the normal functioning of the blood, bone marrow or the lymphatic system. The three types of blood cancers known are lymphoma, leukemia and multiple myeloma. These are classified according to the location of the malignancy. Further, leukemia is distinguished as either acute leukemia where the blood is produced rapidly, or chromic leukemia where the production of white blood cells slows down. Lymphoma cancer is associated with irregularities in the lymphocytes and the plasma.

Blood cancer symptoms vary by the type of cancer that the patient has. Some of the general symptoms include fever, fatigue, weight loss, excessive bone and joint pain, anemia, being prone to infections and such. Blood cancer is diagnosed through a series of lab test of blood samples for certain proteins, colon biopsy, urine test, tumor market test and so on. None of these tests will prove completely that you have blood cancer; they will only give the general internal report of the body. An analysis of the bone marrow sample can confirm the presence of cancer.

Blood cancer treatments include chemotherapy, radiotherapy, blood and blood product transfusion, bone marrow transplantation and such. Effective treatments in the past decade have reduced the number of blood cancer-related deaths but no treatment is known to be a hundred percent effective. There is a great chance of a relapse of malignancy even after satisfactory treatment due to unforeseen metastasis.

Cancer development risk is increased because of various genetic disorders such as Down syndrome and other blood disorders, radiation exposure, smoking, contact with certain carcinogenic chemicals like benzene, benzo[a]pyrene, ethylene dibromide and many others. Although there is no way to prevent developing blood cancer, a healthy diet and regular exercise is known to reduce the chances.