September is National Blood Cancers Awareness Month

September is National Blood Cancers Awareness Month.

Are you aware of all the many types and subtypes of blood cancers? Between 160,000 and 200,000 new cases of blood cancers will be diagnosed in the United States this year.

Here is an incomplete list:

LYMPHOMA

Lymphomas are cancers that derive from white blood cells known as lymphocytes. Across all ages, approximately 79,000 new cases of lymphoma are diagnosed in the United States every year. Subtypes include:

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL), which includes several dozen subtypes, among them:
Follicular Lymphoma
Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma
Mantle Cell Lymphoma
Burkitt's Lymphoma
Anaplastic Large T-cell Lymphoma
Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma

Hodgkin's Lymphoma, which includes:
Classic Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Nodular Lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin's Lymphoma

LEUKEMIA

Leukemia is characterized by uncontrolled growth of immature blood cells in the bone marrow. Across all ages, approximately 48,000 new cases of leukemia are diagnosed in the United States every year. Subtypes include:

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Acute Myeloid Leukemia, also known as:
Acute Myelogenous Leukemia
Acute Myelocytic Leukemia
Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia
Acute Granulocytic Leukemia

Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), also known as:
Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia
Chronic Myelocytic Leukemia
Chronic Granulocytic Leukemia

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Hairy Cell Leukemia. This is a form of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia

Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia, also known as:
Chronic granulocytic leukemia
Infant Monosomy 7 Syndrome
CMML of Childhood
Juvenile Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Large Granular Lymphoctic Leukemia (LGL)

MYELOMA

Myelomas begin in the bone marrow and affect plasma cells. Across all ages, approximately 22,000 new cases of myeloma are diagnosed in the United States every year. Subtypes include:

Mulitple Myeloma

Plasmacytoma

Localized Myeloma

Extramedullary myeloma

MYELODYSPLASTIC SYNDROMES(MDS)

Myelodysplastic syndromes describe a wide range of cancers of the blood and bone marrow. Despite the name, MDS is in fact a diagnosis of cancer. It used to be called pre-leukemia because of the disease's tendency to develop into full-blown leukemia. The exact number of diagnoses is not known, but it is estimated to be anywhere from 12,000 to 15,000 new diagnoses in the US annually.

MYELOPROLIFERATIVE NEOPLASMS

Polycythemia Vera (PV)
This disease is characterized by the uncontrolled production of (generally red) blood cells. It is caused by a mutation in a blood stem cell. For more information, see the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's PV Fact Sheet (opens as PDF).

Essential Thrombocythemia (ET)
This disease is characterized by the uncontrolled production of blood cells (especially platelets). It is caused by a mutation in a blood stem cell. Platelets are also called thrombocytes, and the word 'thrombocythemia' describes an excess of platelets in the blood. For more information, see the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's ET Fact Sheet (opens as PDF).

Myelofibrosis (MF)
Myelofibrosis is a very rare cancer of the bone marrow. For more information, see the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's MF Fact Sheet (opens as PDF).

This disease is also known as:
Agnogenic Myeloid Metaplasia
Idiopathic Myelofibrosis