Blood Cancer

A multitude of blood cancer types present with unique symptoms and require specific courses of treatment. The most common types of blood cancer are:

Leukemia

Leukemia begins in the body's blood-forming tissues — the bone marrow or the lymphatic system. From there, it can spread to different body parts, including the liver, spleen, and central nervous system. Leukemia typically involves an overproduction of white blood cells, which disrupts the bone marrow's ability to create platelets and red blood cells.

There are several types of leukemia, which are classified first by the cancer's progression:

Acute leukemia

Acute leukemia is caused by the overproduction of immature blood cells, called blasts. Typically, white blood cells are affected. This type of leukemia progresses quickly and therefore requires swift, aggressive treatment.

Chronic leukemia

The overproduction of mature blood cells causes chronic leukemia. Usually, the white blood cells are affected. There are various types of chronic leukemia, including those that produce too few blood cells and those that produce too many. Chronic leukemia typically affects adults.

In addition to being classified by the progress of the cancer, leukemia is classified by the type of white blood cell affected. Some of the most common types of chronic or acute leukemia include:

• Lymphocytic leukemia - Lymphocytic leukemia — which can present as either chronic or acute — involves the lymphoid cells in the lymphatic system, called lymphocytes. These white blood cells form part of the immune system.
• Myeloid leukemia - Presenting as either chronic or acute, myeloid leukemia involves the myeloid cells, a type of blood cell that originates in the bone marrow and eventually produces different types of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelet-forming cells.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma originates in the lymphatic system —specifically, in white blood cells called lymphocytes. There are more than 70 different subtypes of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, including Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia, cutaneous B-cell lymphoma, and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

Hodgkin's lymphoma

A far less common type of blood cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma is caused by the overproduction of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell within the lymphatic system. Hodgkin's lymphoma is curable compared to other types of cancers, but individual outcomes will depend on the subtype of Hodgkin's lymphoma, patient gender and age, and time of diagnosis. There are two main subtypes of Hodgkin's lymphoma:

Classical Hodgkin's lymphoma

About 95% of all Hodgkin's lymphoma cases are the classic type. There are four subtypes of classic Hodgkin's lymphoma:

• Nodular sclerosis - This lymphoma subtype is typically found in the neck and chest. It's often diagnosed in children and young adults.
• Mixed cellularity - More common in older adults, mixed cellularity Hodgkin's lymphoma usually occurs in the abdomen
• Lymphocyte-rich - Men are more likely to be diagnosed with this rare subtype of classic Hodgkin's lymphoma. In these cases, the affected lymph nodes have many normal-appearing Reed-Sternberg cells — large, abnormal white blood cells — and lymphocytes.
• Lymphocyte-depleted – The rarest of all classical Hodgkin’s subtypes. Older adults and people with HIV are more likely to be diagnosed.

Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin's lymphoma (NLPHL)

In this less common type of Hodgkin's lymphoma, these abnormally large white blood cells resemble pieces of popcorn. They're often referred to as popcorn cells because of this. NLPHL is often diagnosed in middle-aged adults.

Multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma originates in the blood's plasma cells—white blood cells made in the bone marrow that secrete immunoglobulin, or antibody, which protects the body from infection. This type of lymphoma accumulates cancerous plasma cells in the bone marrow, which crowd out healthy blood cells.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)

Myelodysplastic syndromes occur when blood-forming cells in the bone marrow are poorly formed or don't work as they should, resulting in low numbers of various blood cells. MDS is broadly characterized as a lower-risk and higher-risk disease based on the degree of anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, blast count, and cytogenetic (chromosomal) abnormalities.

Myeloproliferative neoplasm

These types of blood cancers originate in stem cells located in bone marrow. This group of diseases includes polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, myelofibrosis, and rarer entities such as systemic mastocytosis.