Blood Cancers

Cancers of the blood usually begin within the bone marrow and impact the blood, bone marrow and lymphatic system. Usually, an atypical type of blood cell starts being produced at an uncontrollable rate and eventually keeps the rest of the blood from doing its normal job of warding off infection, clotting, delivering oxygen to the body’s tissues, and other functions. The three primary types of blood cancer include leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma; myelodysplastic syndromes are also considered blood cancer. Depending on the specific type of blood cancer a patient has, effective treatments can include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, stem cell transplantation and bone marrow transplantation.