10 Things You Need to Know About Blood Cancer

Every three minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with blood cancer. It is one of the most common areas of cancer, affecting the production and function of your blood cells. Many of these cancers start in your bone marrow, where blood is produced. Your bone marrow is full of stem cells that mature and develop into red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.  In most blood cancers, the normal blood cell development process is interrupted by the uncontrolled growth of an abnormal type of blood cell. These abnormal blood cells, or cancer cells, prevent your blood from performing many of its functions, like fighting off infections or preventing serious bleeding.

1. The three most common forms of blood cancer are leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. 
2. 171,550 people in the US will be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma in 2016. 
3. Leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma will account for 10.2% of the new cancer cases in 2016.
4. Leukemia is the most common cancer in Hispanic children and adolescents.
5. Stem cells for treatments can be autologous (the cells come from you) or allogeneic (the cells come from a matched related or unrelated donor). 
6. Clinicaltrials.gov can connect you with blood cancer clinical trials.
7. The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 established the creation of the National Cord Blood Inventory for patients in need of transplants.
8. Research studies of cord blood transplants show promising results. For more information on cord blood and cord blood banking please visit, americordstage.wpengine.com.
9. The number of cells required to give a transplant patient the best chance of engraftment and survival is based on weight, age, and disease status.
10. Five-year survival rates for blood cancer patients are higher than they have ever been!

Sources:

• “American Society of Hematology.” Blood Cancers. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2016.
• “Facts and Statistics.” LaRussaA. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2016.
• “Statistics | Leukemia Research Foundation.” Statistics | Leukemia Research Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2016.
• “Umbilical Cord Blood Banking and Transplantation.” Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (2014): n. pag. Web.
•  Clinical Trials Gov

The views, statements, and pricing expressed are deemed reliable as of the published date. Articles may not reflect current pricing, offerings, or recent innovations.