Blood Cancers
When cancer occurs in the blood, it’s usually the result of an abnormal and/or excessive reproduction of white blood cells. Blood cancers account for about 10 percent of all diagnosed cancers in the U.S. each year. Blood cancers (including leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma) are more common in men than women. Childhood leukemia accounts for about 25 percent of all cancers in children.
Leukemia is cancer of white blood cells. It prevents white blood cells from fighting infections in your body.
Leukemia is cancer of bone marrow stem cells – immature cells that normally would develop into either red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets.
When someone has leukemia, the bone marrow produces abnormal blood cells that do not die when they become old, as normal, healthy cells do. These abnormal cells build up in the bone marrow and prevent normal blood cells from developing. Almost all leukemia begins in the bone marrow, and it usually spreads to the blood. Leukemia may also be found in other tissues, such as lymph nodes and the spleen.
Diagnosing leukemia in its earliest stages can improve a patient’s prognosis, so it is important to be tested as soon as possible if leukemia is suspected. To diagnose leukemia, your doctor will obtain a complete blood count (CBC) test, which can identify abnormal levels of white blood cells relative to red blood cells and platelets.
Lymphoma is cancer of the lymphatic system, particularly lymph nodes. The type doctors know the most about is called Hodgkin’s lymphoma. All other lymphomas are called non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It’s the most common form of blood cancer in adults, accounting for over half of all diagnosed blood cancer cases.
In general, lymphoma is more common in men than in women. In the U.S., white men and women are more likely to be affected than other races. Epstein-Barr, HIV, and human T-cell lymphoma/leukemia virus infections are known risk factors for developing lymphoma. Age can also play a role—young adults in their 20s and people over the age of 55 are most likely to develop HL, whereas older adults over the age of 60 are more likely to develop NHL. Additional risk factors for NHL include exposure to certain chemicals (including benzene and chemotherapy drugs), radiation, a weakened immune system, autoimmune disease, and a high-fat diet and/or obesity.
Though a diagnosis of cancer is never good news, lymphoma is one that can be treated. Effective treatments include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy and other targeted therapies.
Myeloma is cancer of the plasma cells, which make antibodies to protect against infections. Myeloma affects your body’s immune system, leaving it susceptible to infection. Multiple Myeloma is one of the most dreaded cancers. It is considered incurable even with aggressive medical treatment.
Though not everything is known about the reasons and the risk factors for developing myeloma, there are certain patterns. The disease affects men more than women, is more common after middle age, and more often found in Black Americans. Several risk factors have been suggested, including exposure to radiation and certain chemicals, chronic inflammation, metabolic syndromes, other environmental causes, and possible genetic risk factors. It is now believed that every case of myeloma develops gradually, from a precursor silent condition called MGUS (monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance).
MGUS causes no symptoms and you won’t know you have it unless your doctor finds it incidentally during routine blood work. The chance of MGUS progressing into myeloma is about 1 percent per year.
We can measure the progression of the disease by the rise in blood levels of paraprotein, which is what’s made by MGUS and myeloma cells.
Studies have suggested that vegetarians have just a quarter of the risk of developing myeloma. Another study has shown that poultry workers may double their risk of multiple myeloma.
Harvard researchers have reported a controversial link between diet soda and multiple myeloma, implicating aspartame. Studies also suggest french fries and potato chips should not be the way we get our vegetables, nor should we probably pickle them as intake of pickled vegetables three times a week or more was associated with increased risk.
Protection and/or Survival: In a study of sixty thousand people, University of Oxford researchers found that those who consume a plant-based diet are less likely to develop all forms of cancer. But the greatest protection seemed to be against blood cancers. In people who eat vegetarian diets, the incidence of blood cancers was half of those eating meat.
The key to cancer prevention and treatment is to keep tumor cells from multiplying out of control while allowing healthy cells to grow normally. Chemotherapy and radiation do a great job of killing cancer cells, but they don’t protect healthy cells.
Some compounds in plants can kill cancer cells without damaging healthy cells.
Sulforaphane, from cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and kale, can kill human leukemia cells in a petri dish without damaging normal cells.
An eight year study by Yale University researchers which followed five hundred women with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma found that those women who started out eating three or more servings of vegetables daily had a 42 percent improved survival rate.
Green, leafy vegetables, including salad and cooked greens, and citrus fruits appeared most protective.
The Iowa Women’s Health Study has found that higher broccoli and other cruciferous vegetable intake was associated with lower risk of getting non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the first place.
Higher dietary intake of antioxidants is associated with significantly lower lymphoma risk. It has been found that supplements do not offer the same benefits as food.
The superstars in the plant kingdom seem to be cloves, cinnamon, and purple cabbage. Other strong antioxidants include walnuts, apples and cranberries.
Researchers from the University of Texas found that multiple myeloma cells in a petri dish quadrupled within days. It is a very fast-growing cancer without any intervention. But when they added a little curcumin (a component of the spice, turmeric) to the petri dishes, the myeloma cells’ growth was either stunted or stopped altogether.
