Cancer is a disease that causes the death of about 10 million people every year. It is the second leading cause of death. There are many types of cancer, one of them is blood cancer, which is also known as hematologic cancer. As soon as the name of blood cancer comes to mind, the first thing that comes to mind is death! But if you become aware of this disease, then it can be prevented with the help of treatment. Now, when we spoke to Dr Vigyan Mishra, Lab Head at Newberg Diagnostics, Noida, he explained the ways to recognise the symptoms of this disease and which tests should be done to detect blood cancer.
These symptoms start appearing when blood cancer occurs:
- Tiredness: It is one of the earliest symptoms that accompany blood cancer. However, the intensity of the fatigue is usually severe and not responsive to rest.
- Increased Infections: Blood cancer tends to attack the immune system, and patients are susceptible to being prone to infections. Patients come to be exposed to colds, flu, or any other infection multiple times.
- Easy Bruising: The early signs can be easy bruising, nosebleeds or bleeding gums. The reason is again the lack of platelets.
- Enlarged Lymph Nodes: Swollen lymph nodes in the neck, armpits or groin are considered an early sign of lymphoma- one of the types of blood cancer.
- Fever and Night Sweats: Unexplained fever and night sweats can sometimes be some of the earliest presentations of blood cancer. Most patients will say that they come and go, without a self-evident cause, for example, an infection.
Take the following tests to diagnose blood cancer:
- CBC Test (Complete Blood Count Test): The first step that a doctor takes when he suspects a diagnosis of blood cancer is to suggest a CBC test. It measures the extent of red blood cells, white blood cells, and even the presence of platelets in the blood.
- Bone Marrow Biopsy: This test shows if any disease is affecting the blood cells or the marrow. It also tells how much the disease has spread. During bone marrow biopsy, an examiner inserts a needle into the hip bone for examination. For leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma patients, this test forms an important part.
- Flow Cytometry: This process measures the physical or chemical characteristics of cells in a sample of blood or bone marrow. This will enable the search to be made for cancerous cells, which can then be taken into consideration in diagnosis.
- Imaging Tests: Here, areas of the body where lymph nodes are enlarged are scanned. To do so, X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, or PET scans are carried out on these patients to see if the patient has any tumours or other signs of cancerous nature related to blood cancer.
- Cytogenetic Testing: This test analyses a sample of blood, tissue, or bone marrow of an individual to check for genetic abnormalities.
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