Human blood is made up of different cell types including red blood cells for carrying oxygen, platelets to help blood clot and white blood cells that fight infections. They all originally come from stem cells, which have the potential to develop into any type of blood cell as they divide and mature.
The problems in this process, known as ‘differentiation’, are at the route of all blood cancers. Different types of blood cancer depend on when and how these problems occur.
These are the three types of blood cancer you need to aware of:
Leukemia
A type of cancer found in your blood and bone marrow, is caused by the rapid production of abnormal white blood cells. The high numbers of abnormal white blood cells are not able to fight infection, and they impair the ability of the bone marrow to produce red blood cells and platelets. The two most common adult leukemia’s are AML and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
Lymphoma
A type of blood cancer that affects the lymphatic system, which removes excess fluids from your body and produces immune cells. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that fights infection. Abnormal lymphocytes become lymphoma cells, which multiply and collect in your lymph nodes and other tissues. Over time, these cancerous cells impair your immune system. There are two types of lymphomas: Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Myeloma
This is a cancer of the plasma cells. Plasma cells are white blood cells that produce disease- and infection-fighting antibodies in your body. Myeloma cells prevent the normal production of antibodies, leaving your body's immune system weakened and susceptible to infection. myeloma frequently occurs at many sites in the bone marrow