Is blood cancer preventable or is it Genetic ?

 The likelihood of getting blood cancer is related to how your blood cells form. The disease develops when harmful mutations occur and these abnormal cells interfere with the function of normal blood cells. It is normal for cells to multiply to form white blood cells that fight infections. When the infection is cleared, these cells die.

"If you have cancer cells, there is a mutation where immature cells make more and more cells that do not mature," Dr Dodul Mondal explains. "They serve no purpose and crowd out the normal cells. But these mutations must form a large enough number of cells to cause a problem. Otherwise, the smaller number of mutated cells does not affect the good cells, they eventually die, or the small problem is corrected by repair mechanisms our bodies produce to fight the bad cells."

Is blood cancer genetic?

Unlike breast cancer, blood cancer is rarely passed down in families.

"Sometimes oncologist see people with familial lymphoma or leukemia, but those are rare cases," Dr Dodul Mondal says. "In most cases, blood cancer occurs more sporadically."

Symptoms of blood cancer

The type of blood cancer and the aggressiveness of the disease inform what symptoms each individual may experience. However, in some cases, there are no symptoms that many would associate with cancer. Some common symptoms include:

• Constant fatigue and/or weakness

• Nausea and/or loss of appetite

• Swollen lymph nodes

• Headaches

• Shortness of breath

• Fever and/or chills

• bone and joint pain

Treatment of blood cancer

Depending on the individual cancer, blood cancers are usually treated with chemical therapies, but can sometimes be combined with radiation therapy.

"Chemotherapy is usually the best treatment," says Dr Dodul Mondal. "Sometimes we also use radiation in certain areas, but blood cancers are usually systemic diseases. So they do not usually occur in limited, isolated areas. While radiation can not cure most cases, it can be beneficial in treating a small area."

In some cases, patients may even benefit from a bone marrow transplant or, more commonly today, a peripheral blood stem cell transplant. There are two different types of stem cell transplants: autologous and allogeneic.

"An autologous transplant uses your own stem cells from your bone marrow," explains Dr Dodul Mondal. "Using the patient's own blood cells can avoid some side effects, but this may not be the best option for every patient."

Some patients require an allogeneic bone marrow transplant, which uses stem cells from a donor to fight cancer cells.

Is blood cancer curable?

Generally, earlier treatment of cancer is more effective, but some blood cancers can be cured at any stage. This depends on the type of disease. If the cancer is not curable, treatments can help relieve symptoms and improve survival. With the right time frame for diagnosis and treatment, most people live longer than they would have expected in the past or without treatment.

"Blood cancers can affect anyone - the disease does not discriminate whether you are young or old," Dr Dodul Mondal points out. "Like most cancers, they become more common with age, but we also see pediatric leukemia and other forms of blood cancer in young people."