Several kinds of cancer attack the cells that make up your blood. Their symptoms usually come on slowly, so you might not even notice them. And some people have no symptoms at all.But there are a few things to look for with the most common kinds of blood cancer.
Blood cells are made inside your bone marrow, and that’s where leukemia starts. It causes your body to make white blood cells that grow out of control and live longer than they’re supposed to. And unlike normal white blood cells, they don’t help your body fight infection.
There are many different forms of leukemia. Some get worse quickly (acute). You’ll probably feel very sick very suddenly, like you’ve come down with the flu. Other forms can take years to cause symptoms (chronic). Your first clue may be abnormal results on a routine blood test.
Most signs of leukemia happen because the cancer cells keep your healthy blood cells from growing and working normally.
Anemia: This is when your body doesn’t make enough red blood cells, or the ones you have don’t do their jobs well. Signs of it include:
Poor clotting: Platelets are the cells that make your blood clot. When your body doesn’t make enough of them, small cuts may bleed more than usual, or you might have a bloody nose often. You may also have:
Other symptoms: Because your white blood cells don’t fight infection well, you’ll get sick more often and take longer to get over it. You may get a lot of fevers and have night sweats.
Your lymph system carries infection-fighting white blood cells called lymphocytes throughout your body and helps get rid of waste. Lymphoma causes your body to make lymphocytes that grow out of control and make it harder for you to fight infection.
Swollen lymph nodes are the main sign of lymphoma. You may notice a lump in your neck, armpit, or groin. Lymph nodes farther inside your body may press on your organs and cause coughing, shortness of breath, or pain in your chest, belly, or bones. Your spleen may get bigger, making you feel full or bloated. The swollen nodes aren’t usually painful, but they may hurt when you drink alcohol.
Some other common signs of lymphoma are:
The plasma cell is another type of disease-fighting cell in your bloodstream. Multiple myeloma causes your bone marrow to make plasma cells that grow out of control and keep your body from making enough healthy blood cells. They also release chemicals into your blood that can hurt your organs and tissues.
Some forms get worse faster than others, but symptoms typically don’t show up until you’ve had it for a while.
Bone pain: The most common sign of multiple myeloma is serious and long-lasting pain, usually in your back or ribs. The cancer cells release a chemical that stops the normal growth and healing process in your bones. They get thin and weak and can break easily.
Damage to the bones in your spine can put pressure on your nerves and cause pain or weakness in your legs, tingling in your arms, and loss of bowel or bladder control.
Hypercalcemia: Multiple myeloma causes high levels of calcium in your blood. That can lead to:
Too much calcium in your blood can also hurt your kidneys. Certain proteins made by the cancer cells can, too. Signs include swollen ankles, shortness of breath, and itchy skin.
Other multiple myeloma symptoms: The proteins the cancer cells release can damage your nerves, which can cause weakness, numbness, and pain in your arms and legs. Multiple myeloma cells also crowd out healthy cells in your blood. That can cause bleeding problems and make you anemic and more likely to get infections.
If your doctor thinks you might have blood cancer, specific tests can help them find out for sure. You may need to have more than one to know what’s going on.
A nurse or technician will take some blood from a vein in your arm near your elbow. Your medical team can use the sample for:
Your bones are hard on the outside, but they’re more like sponge in the middle. That part is called the marrow, and it’s where your red blood cells and white blood cells are made.
Your doctor may need to find out if a disease is attacking your bone marrow. Some illnesses show up there before they do in your blood.
Your doctor probably will take a small amount of marrow from your hip. First, your medical team will numb the area. They also might give you medicine to make you drowsy.
Then your doctor probably will do two things:
It usually takes about 30 minutes. You might have it done in a hospital, clinic, or your doctor’s office.
The samples will go to a lab, where technicians will figure out whether your bone marrow is making enough healthy blood cells. They’ll also look for unusual cells. Those results can help your doctor:
Blood cancer may affect part of your immune system called your lymphatic system. It runs throughout your body, and it includes your tonsils and spleen, along with lymph nodes that are about the size of beans. Your body has hundreds of them, and they have white blood cells to help fight infections and illnesses.
Your medical team may want to take out part or all of a node to look for cancer. Doctors call that a lymph node biopsy.
The surgical team will take you into an operating room in either a hospital or an outpatient center. They’ll make the area numb around where they’re going to take out the node, but they probably won’t put you to sleep.
This test looks at a sample of the fluid around your brain and spinal cord. It can tell your doctor if the fluid has any blood cancer cells. You may hear this test called a lumbar puncture.
You’ll lie on your side, and your medical team will make part of your back numb. Then your doctor will use a needle to take out a little fluid from between the bones in your spine. They’ll put a bandage on the spot in your back, and the fluid sample will go to the lab.
This measures proteins, blood cells, and other substances in your urine. Chemicals in your blood often end up in your urine after your kidneys filter them out.
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