Here are basics you need to know about cancer of the blood

What you need to know:

  • With this, treating cancer is changing rapidly-the outlook has never been better.

Cancer vary, some are fatal, some have little impact on your quality of life and some can rapidly change your outlook towards life.

With this, treating cancer is changing rapidly-the outlook has never been better.

Speaking about cancer of the blood, there are three main types of it.

1. Leukaemia

Although leukaemia is a cancer of white blood cells, other white blood cells are affected because the bone marrow is too busy making these abnormal cells to make red blood cells or plateletes, which help your blood clot properly. That means symptoms include:

• Tiredness, breathlessness or dizziness due to anaemia.

• Abnormal bleeding (such as bruising without an injury) because of low platelet levels.

• Serious infection because the cancerous white blood cells don’t work properly in fighting off infection.

Most childhood leukaemias can be cured, and treatment for chronic leukaemia can slow down progression for years.

Remember!

Certain medication especialy tablets like asprin can also make you more prone to bleeding. Do get abnormal bleeding checked.

2. Lymphoma

The most common symptom of lymphoma is swollen lymph glands that do not disappear. They can also cause sweating (especially at night), tiredness , fever, weightloss and itching all-over the body.

There are two main types of lymphoma.Hodgkin’s lymphoma can occur at any age but it is in its peak at 20s and over 70s. Most people with Hodgkin’s lymphoma can be completely cured with chemotherapy and sometimes radiotherapy too.

Non-hodgkin’s lymphoma, most commonly affect people of over 60 and although actual data are yet to be collected, thousands of people are diagnosed every year in Tanzania. The outlook and the treatments vary with how fast-progressing the lymphoma is. Fast growing lymphomas can often be cured with chemotherapy. Slow-growing lymphomas are less likely to be cured but treatment can reduce your symptoms and they may not progress for years.

Remember!

A few raised, tender glands in one part of your body are much more likely to be due to an infection than due to lymphoma. If you have other symptoms or they don’t settle, see your doctor, but remember, most swollen glands are not caused by cancer.

3. Myeloma

Myeloma is quite rare affecting not many people compared to other types of cancer. It often doesn’t cause symptoms in the early stages and may be found ‘by accident’ with a routine blood test.

The first symptom is often bone pain (most commonly in the ribs, low back or ribs) made worse by movement. Broken bones, weakness or numbness in one part of the body, tiredness due to anaemia and abnormal clotting can occur. Treatment may not be needed if you don’t have symptoms, but you will need regular follow up.

Remember!

Aching bones are symptoms of myeloma, but they’re much more likely to come down to a less worrying cause.