Information on Blood Cancer

The category of blood cancers encompasses the diseases of leukemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma and myelodysplastic syndromes. These cancers originate in the bone marrow or lymphatic tissues.

Significance

• The Leukemia-Lymphoma Society estimates that 139,860 people in the United States will be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma in 2009. Every four minutes, a person is diagnosed with a blood cancer, and every 10 minutes, an individual dies from a blood cancer.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of blood cancers include persistent low-grade fever, weight loss, fatigue, shortness of breath and abnormal blood cell counts.

Treatment

• There are more than 50 chemotherapy drugs that are used to treat blood cancers, and radiation therapy can be combined as part of the cancer treatment. Targeted therapies are used to treat blood cancers, and clinical trials are underway to explore newer treatments and medications.

Survival

• According to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, there are more than 900,000 people living with or in remission from blood cancers. It is important to get long-term followup after active treatment has ended to monitor any long-term effects from chemo or radiation.

Famous Ties

• "Sex and the City" actor Evan Handler is a leukemia survivor, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died of lymphoma and politician Geraldine Ferraro is a survivor of multiple myeloma.