You may have heard of leukemia and lymphoma.
But did you know that “blood cancer” is actually a broad umbrella term
covering more than 100 unique types of blood cancer?
Together, these cancers are more common than you might think.
There are more than 1 million people living with or in remission from
blood cancer in the United States today.
The diversity of blood cancers means there may be major differences
in the way they’re treated, how they might progress,
and what a person may experience both physically and emotionally.
There are many ways of categorizing blood cancers.
But two common ways are to think about where the cancer first starts –
in the blood and bone marrow or in the lymphatic system –
and the speed at which it grows –
slowly and gradually, or quickly and aggressively.
Let’s take a look at the common blood cancers within each of these categories,
and what makes them unique.
We’ll start with leukemias – cancers of the blood and bone marrow.
Acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, is the most common type of aggressive leukemia in adults.
The disease starts when immature cells in the bone marrow start growing out of control,
and it can be quickly fatal if not treated.
Even with treatment, AML has the lowest survival rate of all leukemias.
It’s even worse for people who can’t tolerate standard treatments.
More options are desperately needed for this hard-to-treat disease.
Now let’s look at a very different kind of leukemia: one that grows slowly.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, is the most common type of leukemia overall.
It starts with the uncontrollable growth of white blood cells called lymphocytes,
but this process happens gradually.
In fact, signs and symptoms of CLL may take years to appear.
For this reason, doctors often recommend a “watch and wait” approach
where there is no treatment given until the disease progresses or when symptoms appear.
Even though many people respond well to treatment,
relapse is common and the cancer becomes harder to treat each time it comes back.
The good news is there’s an increasing variety of treatment options
that can extend the amount of time between relapses.
Now, let’s look at cancers that start in the lymphatic system,
which is part of the immune system.
Most cases are considered types of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, or DLBCL, is the most common type of aggressive lymphoma.
It forms when a certain type of blood cell grows uncontrollably in the lymph nodes.
DLBCL progresses quickly, so treatment typically has to begin immediately.
There are certain “risk factors” that may impact the prognosis of an individual with DLBCL.
Nearly 40% of people experience relapse or don’t respond to their first treatment at all.
Not all lymphomas are aggressive, though.
Let’s look at a different type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Follicular lymphoma, or FL, is the most common type of slow-growing lymphoma.
Since this blood cancer progresses slowly,
a “watch and wait” period before starting treatment
is common for people who don’t have symptoms.
FL is characterized by periods of remission and relapse.
However, there are a growing number of treatment options
for people throughout the course of their disease.
Some people with FL live for many years,
so decisions about when and how to treat the disease can have long-term implications.
The diversity of blood cancers means one size definitely does not fit all
when it comes to treatments and expectations.
Over the past decades, we’ve seen a lot of progress in some areas,
especially slow-growing blood cancers.
This is evident, for example, in the dramatic decrease in the death rate
for people with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
And research is going further to extend the time
people with these incurable diseases spend in remission.
We hope a similar transformation will happen for aggressive blood cancers,
as researchers learn more and develop new treatment options for patients.