Facts You Need to Know About Blood Cancers

What Do You Understand with Blood Cancer?

Blood cancer is also called hematologic cancer. Most blood cancers originate in the bone marrow or the lymphatic system. This kind of cancer affects the production and the function of your blood cells. In patients suffering from blood cancer, blood cell production processes are interrupted. This is caused by the growth of abnormal blood cells out of control. It affects the body’s capability to fight off infections.

There are mainly three types of blood cancers.

• Leukaemia: This cancer affects the bone marrow. In this condition, your body creates too many abnormal white blood cells.
• Lymphoma: This affects the lymphatic system when your body produces an abnormal number of lymphocytes.
• Myeloma: This blood cancer affects the plasma cells resulting in weakening of the immune system.

What Are the Early Symptoms of Blood Cancer?

Leukaemia can be challenging to spot in the early stages as it shares symptoms with many other illnesses. Different types of blood cancers have various symptoms, but there are a few common symptoms they share. Some common blood cancer symptoms are:

• Coughing
• Night sweats
• Fever or chills
• Frequent infections
• Shortness of breath
• Itchy skin or rashes
• Persistent chest pain
• Weakness and fatigue
• Loss of appetite or nausea
• Swelling of the lymph nodes in neck, armpits or groin

Symptoms also vary with the age of the patient. In patients below 24 years, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia is very common. Prominent symptoms are stomach pain and joint pains. In the age group of 25-49, Acute Myeloid Leukaemia is common. For this type, symptoms are fatigue, bruising & bleeding and repeated infections. In patients above 50, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia is very prominent. Common symptoms for this condition are weight loss, fever, swollen lymph nodes and fatigue.

Also Read: TYPES OF BLOOD CANCER – LEUKAEMIA & LYMPHOMA AND TREATMENT OPTIONS

What Do You Know about Blood Cancer Stages?

The blood cancer stage often refers to the extent of tumour growth, and its spread to other organs in your body. Blood cancer doesn’t have any tumour growth, and because of this, the staging occurs differently. The stages of blood cancer are determined by the white blood cell count and their accumulation in various organs like lymph nodes, liver, spleen etc. There are four stages of this cancer:

• Stage 1: In stage 1, the enlargement of lymph nodes is observed. This is due to a sudden increase in the number of lymphocytes produced. In this stage, the risk is minimal as the cancer is localized to only lymph nodes.
• Stage 2: When liver, spleen and lymph nodes are enlarged, it is stage 2. In this stage, the lymphocytes grow at a very high rate.
• Stage 3: Anaemia develops in the third stage and there is a significant enlargement of the liver and spleen.
• Stage 4: In stage 4, platelet count plummets. The cancerous cells affect the lungs and other vital organs. Anaemia is likely to be severe in this stage.

How to Choose the Best Cancer Doctor in India?

Getting diagnosed with cancer can be overwhelming. More often than not, you will have time to do your research. No matter how difficult it is, maintaining calm and objectivity are important when researching about cancer treatment options, oncologists and risks involved.

Choosing an oncologist is the most crucial decision you have to make. The doctor who diagnosed you with cancer is likely to refer you to a cancer specialist in his network. Here are a few pointers to finding the best cancer doctor:

• Go for Multi-Speciality Cancer Care: Look out for cancer treatment centres with cancer experts from many fields. This way, you can get input from many cancer experts like medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, nurses and surgeons. This gives you a better picture to determine your treatment plan.
• Ask Your Doctor about His Expertise:You are effectively trusting your cancer doctor with your life. Due diligence will help you better understand how your doctor treated similar cases in the past. You can also gauge his expertise in your condition by knowing how many patients he has operated on and remitted.
• Don’t Rule Out Clinical Trials: Clinical trials are research studies to test new drugs and new methods to treat cancer patients. There have been break throughs in clinical trials before. You will also help improve cancer treatments for future patients.

Also Read: BLOOD CANCERS TREATMENT: TIPS TO REDUCE YOUR RISK

Reach to the Best Oncologist in Delhi

Getting diagnosed with blood cancer can be scary. Taking proper advice and getting the right treatment from the medical fraternity will help you deal with it both physically and mentally. There are many oncology centres in Delhi. Not all provide equal care and individual attention to all the patients. So, choosing the best oncologist in Delhi that understands your medical condition and your background is important.