Blood Cancer

Overview: Blood has many different types of cells like red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Blood cells are made in bone marrow. Blood cancers can develop when cancer cells interrupt the bone marrow’s ability to make normal blood cells. Leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma are types of blood cancers.

Causes: While the exact cause of blood cancers is not known, certain chemical exposures, getting older, prior treatment for cancer are risk factors.

Treatment: Intravenous chemotherapy, oral chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, stem cell transplant, CAR T-cell therapy can all be used to treat blood cancers.

Risk of Radiation Cardiotoxicity: In the treatment of lymphoma and multiple myeloma, radiation to the left side of the chest or in the region of major blood vessels may increase risk of damage to the cardiovascular system. Sometimes radiation to the whole body is given before stem cell transplant.