Blood Cancer Treatment and Survival Rate

May 10, 2024 
This page was reviewed under our medical and editorial policy by Leslie Popplewell, M.D., Hematologist and Medical Director of Hematology and Blood and Bone Marrow Transplant, City of Hope Atlanta

Treatment for blood cancer depends on several factors: What type of blood cancer is it? How old is the patient? How fast is the cancer progressing? Has the cancer spread to other parts of the body? Patient wishes are also taken into consideration.

Treatment for Blood Cancers

Blood cancer treatments have improved considerably in recent years. Many types of blood cancer are highly treatable now.

Patients have different blood cancer treatment options. Among the most common are those listed below.

Chemotherapy: This treatment uses drugs or chemicals designed to destroy or damage cancer cells. The drugs may harm normal healthy cells as well, however, which may make chemotherapy hard on the body. Some blood cancers are treated with a combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and stem cell transplantation.

Radiation therapy: In this type of therapy, high-energy X-rays or other types of radiation are used to destroy cancer cells.

Radiation therapy may be a component of a larger treatment plan used along with other treatments such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy to ease blood cancer symptoms and improve quality of life. The most common type of radiation therapy treatment for blood cancers is external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). In EBRT, radiation is delivered from outside the body. Radioimmunotherapy is also used to treat some blood cancers.

Targeted therapies: This treatment aims to interfere with the growth and survival of cancer cells. Different cancers have different targets. Patients undergo tests to determine the genes, proteins and other factors in their cancer cells. Then the most appropriate treatment for their type of cell is chosen. Targeted therapy may be a standalone treatment or combined with chemotherapy. Targeted therapies include monoclonal antibodies, T cell therapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs).

Stem cell transplantation: During transplantation, healthy stem cells are infused into the patient’s body. The aim is to coax the body to resume production of healthy blood cells. Stem cell transplants are often used after chemotherapy or radiation therapy are used to destroy malignant blood cells.

Cancer surgery: On occasion, surgery may be a treatment option for some blood cancers. These include lymphomas, particularly those that start in the spleen or other organs outside the lymphatic system — for example, the thyroid or stomach. Surgery may be used to treat cancers that are confined to one area.

Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy has been gaining in importance as a treatment for blood cancers, including leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma. During immunotherapy, patients are given medicines to boost their immune systems to more successfully recognize or destroy cancer cells. Many patients find immunotherapy has fewer short-term side effects than other cancer treatments. Different types of immunotherapy include T cell therapy, cytokine treatment, donor lymphocyte infusion, monoclonal antibody treatment and radioimmunotherapy.

Vaccines that could suppress cancer cells that remain after treatment are being studied. These might help prolong remission.

Blood Cancer Survival Rate

A patient’s odds of surviving cancer depend on many factors, including its stage at diagnosis and the patient’s age. Survival rate is a term representing the percentage of patients who will be alive at a specified time after diagnosis. Survival rates may be calculated for any period, but they are often given for five years after diagnosis. The five-year relative survival rate means the percentage of people with a particular cancer who are alive five years after they were diagnosed compared to people without that type of cancer. Those who die from other diseases are not included in survival rates. Statistics do not necessarily reflect the most recent treatment advances for a particular cancer.

The National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program is used to track the rate of people diagnosed with cancer during any given year. SEER follows diagnosed patients until their death.

For 2013-2019, SEER five-year relative survival rates for blood cancers were:

Read more to learn about blood cancer treatment and survival rate by type:

References
References
  • Blood cancer UK. Blood cancer treatment types. 
    https://bloodcancer.org.uk/understanding-blood-cancer/treatment/blood-cancer-types-treatment/

  • iScience (2022, November 18). Immunotherapy approaches for hematological cancers. 
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9619355/

  • Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Chemotherapy. 
    https://www.lls.org/treatment/types-treatment/chemotherapy

  • Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Radiation therapy. 
    https://www.lls.org/treatment/types-treatment/radiation-therapy

  • Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Targeted therapy. 
    https://www.lls.org/leukemia/acute-lymphoblastic-leukemia/childhood-all/targeted-therapy

  • National Cancer Institute (2023, October 5). Stem Cell Transplants in Cancer Treatment. 
    https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/stem-cell-transplant

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  • Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Immunotherapy. 
    https://www.lls.org/treatment/types-treatment/immunotherapy

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    https://www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/cancer-basics/understanding-statistics-used-guide-prognosis-and-evaluate-treatment

  • National Cancer Institute. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER). 
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  • National Cancer Institute. Cancer Stat Facts: Hodgkin Lymphoma. 
    https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/hodg.html

  • National Cancer Institute. Cancer Stat Facts Leukemia. 
    https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/leuks.html

  • National Cancer Institute. Cancer Stat Facts: Myeloma. 
    https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/mulmy.html

  • National Cancer Institute. Cancer Stat Facts: Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. 
    https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/nhl.html