Hematologic Cancer
Fact Sheet
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Hematologic Cancer is a cancer that affects the body’s blood, bone marrow or lymphatic system.
Hematologic cancers represent the fifth most commonly occurring cancers and the second leading cause of
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cancer death. The most common forms of hematologic cancers include:
• Leukemia occurs when the bone marrow overproduces abnormal white blood cells, and is classified by
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the type of white blood cell affected: myeloid or lymphocytic.
• Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system that results in uncontrolled growth of malignant white
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blood cells, forming tumors in the lymph nodes. Lymphoma is classified into two main types: Hodgkin’s
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and Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL and NHL).
• Myeloma occurs when abnormal plasma cells (a type of white blood cell that produces antibodies)
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accumulate in the bone marrow.
Facts and Figures
• In the United States (US), an estimated 43,050 new cases of leukemia will be diagnosed in 2010, with
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approximately 21, 840 related deaths.
o Leukemia, including chronic and acute myeloid leukemia (CML and AML), and chronic and
acute lymphocytic leukemia (CLL and ALL), is one of the ten most frequently occurring
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cancers.
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o The five year survival rate for leukemia is around 55 percent.
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• About 74,030 people in the US are expected to be diagnosed with lymphoma in 2010. NHL is the
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seventh most frequently occurring cancer and occurs more often than HL.
o Approximately 65, 540 people in the US will be diagnosed with NHL in 2010, with over 20,000
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related deaths.
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o HL accounts for 11 percent of all lymphoma diagnoses, and in 2010, there are 8,490 new
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cases estimated to occur in the US and approximately1,320 related deaths.
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o The overall five-year survival rate is approximately 68 percent for NHL and 85 percent for
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HL.
• An estimated 20,180 new cases of myeloma are expected to be diagnosed in the US in 2010, with
approximately 10,650 related deaths. The five-year survival rate for myeloma patients is around 38.5
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percent.
Risk Factors
• Age is the most significant risk factor in hematologic cancers, which occur most often in patients 60 or
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older.
• Exposure to benzene, radiation and certain cancer therapies has been linked to the development of
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leukemia.
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• A weakened immune system and certain infections, such as HIV, can increase the risk of NHL.
• Long-term exposure to certain chemicals may increase the risk for developing myeloma, but for the
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most part, the cause of myeloma remains unknown.
Diagnosis and Treatment
• A biopsy is the only certain way to diagnose lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma, while a blood
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test and cytogenetic analyses can help diagnose different subtypes of these diseases.
• Treatment options for leukemia and lymphoma patients depend on the specific type of cancer, stage of
disease, the speed at which the cancer is growing, and the patient’s overall health. Based on these
factors, treatment may include chemotherapy, targeted therapies, biologic therapy and blood stem cell
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transplant.
o The use of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) imatinib in the treatment of leukemia, specifically
CML, has played a major role in increasing five-year survival rates from approximately 56
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percent to 89 percent.
o In aggressive NHL, standard of care treatment achieves long-term remission in less than half of
cases, demonstrating a need for new therapeutic approaches for relapsed patients, particularly
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those who are transplant ineligible. With no standard of care available for these patients, the
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current two year overall survival is less than 10 percent, with an average survival of less than
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one year.
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New treatment strategies are under investigation for patients with genetic alterations in specific
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subtypes of lymphoma.
Myeloma treatment may depend on whether the patient is experiencing symptoms, and includes
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chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and stem cell transplant.
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1
National Cancer Institute. Definition of Cancer Terms: hematologic cancers. Available at:
http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary/?CdrID=45708. Accessed November 16, 2010.
2
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Hematologic Cancers. Available at:
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/hematologic/. Accessed November 16, 2010.
3
Insight Pharma Reports. Hematological Cancer Therapeutics: Pipelines and Competition. Available at:
http://www.insightpharmareports.com/reports/2005/53_BloodCancer/overview.asp. Accessed November 16,
2010.
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National Cancer Institute. What you need to know about Leukemia. Available at:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/leukemia/page2. Accessed November 16, 2010.
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National Cancer Institute. What you need to know about Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Available at:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/non-hodgkin-lymphoma/page2. Accessed November 16, 2010.
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The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Disease Information – Lymphoma. Available at: http://www.leukemialymphoma.org/all_page?item_id=7030. Accessed November 16, 2010.
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The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Disease Information – Myeloma. Available at: http://www.leukemialymphoma.org/all_page?item_id=7032. Accessed November 16, 2010.
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The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Leukemia Facts and Statistics. Available at: http://www.leukemialymphoma.org/all_page?item_id=9346. Accessed November 15, 2010.
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The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Facts & Statistics. Available at:
http://www.lls.org/all_page?item_id=8965. Accessed on November 16, 2010.
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SEER. SEER Stat Fact Sheets: Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Available at:
http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/nhl.html. Accessed November 16, 2010.
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SEER. SEER Stat Fact Sheets: Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Available at:
http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/hodg.html. Accessed November 1, 2010.
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The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Myeloma Facts and Statistics. Available at: http://leukemialymphoma.org/all_page?item_id=6989. Accessed November 1, 2010.
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National Cancer Institute. What you need to know about Multiple Myeloma – Risk Factors. Available at:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/myeloma/page3. Accessed November 15, 2010.
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National Cancer Institute. What you need to know about Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma - Diagnosis. Available at:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/non-hodgkin-lymphoma/page5. Accessed November 16, 2010.
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National Cancer Institute. What you need to know about Leukemia - Diagnosis. Available at:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/leukemia/page6. Accessed November 16, 2010.
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National Cancer Institute. What you need to know about Multiple Myeloma - Diagnosis. Available at:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/myeloma/page5. Accessed November 16, 2010.
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National Cancer Institute. What you need to know about Leukemia - Treatment. Available at:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/leukemia/page7. Accessed November 16, 2010.
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National Cancer Institute. What you need to know about Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma - Treatment. Available at:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/non-hodgkin-lymphoma/page7. Accessed November 16, 2010.
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National Cancer Institute What you need to know about Hodgkin’s Lymphoma - Treatment. Available at:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/hodgkin/page7. Accessed November 16, 2010.
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SEER. SEER Stat Fact Sheets: Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results.
2010. Available at: http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/cmyl.html. Accessed November 16, 2010.
21
Druker, B. Five-Year Follow-up of Patients Receiving Imatinib for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. New England
Journal of Medicine. 2006; 355:2408-2417.
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Hagemeister FB. Maintenance and Consolidation Strategies in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma: A Review of the
Data. Current Oncology Reports. 2010; 1-7.
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23
Villela, Luis. Prognostic Features and Outcome in Patients with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Who Do Not
Achieve a Complete Response to First-Line Regimens. Cancer. 2001; 91: 1557-1462.
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Ribrag, V. Outcome of Elderly Patients with Aggressive Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Refractory to or Relapsing
after First-line CHOP or CHOP-like Chemotherapy: A Low Probability of Cure. Leukemia & Lymphoma. 2004;
45: 1391-1394.
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ASH Accepted Abstract #2877. Clinical Activity of Crizotinib In Advanced, Chemoresistant ALK+ Lymphoma
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Patients. Presenter – C. Gambacorti. 52 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting. December 4-7,
2010.
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Marcucci G. Book Review: Innovative Leukemia and Lymphoma Therapy. The New England Journal of
Medicine. 2009; 360: 313.
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National Cancer Institute. What you need to know about Multiple Myeloma - Treatment. Available at:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/myeloma/page7. Accessed November 16, 2010.
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