Blood cancer What is blood cancer?

 

Blood cancer
What is blood cancer?


The term "blood cancer" encompasses various diseases that affect the bone marrow and blood cells. Depending on the affected cells, up to 137 malignant hemopathies can be caused.

The different types of blood cancer usually originate in the bone marrow, which is the spongy tissue found inside some bones, such as the hip or sternum.
The bone marrow is the "factory" of hematopoietic stem cells, which divide and mature into the three different types of blood cells: red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

In blood cancer, the maturation process of these hematopoietic cells is interrupted prematurely.

In most cases this leads to an uncontrolled growth of immature cells that proliferate, invading the bone marrow and leaving no resources or space for healthy blood cells. In other cases, blood cancer causes the bone marrow to produce an insufficient or abnormal amount of certain types of blood cells.

As a result, this overproduction of malignant cells or the insufficient or abnormal production of healthy cells prevents the blood from performing many of its functions, including fighting infections, oxygenating vital organs or preventing serious hemorrhages.
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    Every 35 seconds, someone somewhere in the world receives the news that they have been diagnosed with blood cancer.

Main types of blood cancer

You have probably heard about leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma. Indeed, they are the three main diseases that encompass the term blood cancer. But so are conditions such as myelodysplastic syndromes (SMD) or myeloproliferative neoplasms (NMP), among others. In fact, depending on which cells are affected, up to 137 different diseases can be distinguished.
Leukemia

Leukemia usually originates in the bone marrow, where blood cells are formed, and usually consists of excessive proliferation of white blood cells, although there are also leukemias that affect red blood cells or platelets. The malignant cells usually accumulate in the marrow, preventing the production of normal cells.
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Lymphoma

This type of cancer begins in the cells of the lymphatic system (lymphocytes), responsible for helping the body fight infections and diseases. Because the lymphatic tissue is found throughout the body, this disease can arise in any ganglion or organ. The two general types are Hodgkin's lymphoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Lymphoma can occur in both children and adults.
Myeloma

It is a cancer that occurs in plasma cells, which are the most differentiated B lymphocytes. These produce antibodies against diseases and also fight infections. Myeloma cells only produce one type of antibody, preventing the production of other types of antibodies; in this way, they leave the immune system weakened and susceptible to infections. Myeloma is more frequent in the population over 60 years old and is rarely diagnosed in children.

    The most common cancer in children is acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Current treatments allow 80% of patients to be cured.

Treatment against blood cancer

THERE IS HOPE!
Fortunately, there are several treatments for different types of blood cancer.
Treatment against blood cancer

 
Some patients can be cured with chemotherapy, which in some cases is combined with radiation therapy. In contrast, other people can only overcome their disease by transplanting hematopoietic progenitors or hematopoietic stem cells. These are found in the bone marrow although to a lesser extent we can also obtain them from umbilical cord blood.

These processes are what we commonly call bone marrow transplant. Three out of four patients do not find a compatible donor in their family environment, so it is very important that there are as many potential volunteers as possible from stem cells.