What are the chances of surviving blood cancer?

Blood cancer can affect the production and function of your blood cells thereby hindering day to day activity. Most of these kinds of cancers start where the blood is made i.e. the bone marrow. The stem cells in the bone marrow with the passage of time develop into either red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets. In most cases, the normal development process is affected by the uncontrolled growth of an abnormal type of blood cells. These cancerous cells prevent the blood from performing its day to day functions like providing immunity against infection and preventing uncontrolled bleeding. There are many blood cancer hospitals in India and they offer blood cancer treatment at the highest level.

These are three main types of blood cancers:

● Leukemia – The kind of cancer that is found in your blood and bone marrow, it is caused by the rapid production of abnormal white blood cells in the body. The great number of abnormal white blood cells aren’t themselves capable of fighting off infection and also hamper the ability of the bone marrow to produce red blood cells and platelets.

● Lymphoma – It is a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system of our bodies. This system removes excess fluids from our bodies and produces immune cells called lymphocytes. Abnormal lymphocytes become lymphoma cells which grow larger in number and collect in the lymph nodes and other tissues. Over a period of time, these cancerous cells hamper and impair the immune system.

● Myeloma – Also known as the cancer of plasma cells. In this type of cancer, the plasma cells that produce disease and infection-fighting antibodies prevent the normal functioning and production of antibodies. Due to this the immune system is weakened and left susceptible to infection.

Relative rates for blood cancer

It is a more accurate way of estimating the effect of cancer on survival. Relative survival rate compares the men with prostate cancer to all the people in the overall population. For example, if the 5-year relative survival rate of a specific stage of blood cancer is 90% that means that people who have blood cancer are on an average are likely to live as long as 90% of the general population who don’t have cancer. But one thing to remember is that no survival fits all, there are always exceptions.

Latest studies show that the 5-year survival rate of blood cancer has grown substantially over the years and with the advancement in technology the survival rate continues to improve. The average 5-year survival rate in this decade is 61.4%.

Age group	% of deaths
Under 20	2.2
20–34	2.6
35–44	2.4
45–54	5.5
55–64	12.6
65–74	23.1
75–84	30.0
>84	21.6

The table above shows that there is a direct correlation between age and the survival rate. People under the age of 20 have almost 98% of surviving the chemotherapy while people in the age group of 75-84 have a 70 %chance of surviving cancer and going through the treatment. Thus age and stage both play a crucial part in determining the chances of survival.