Leukemia Facts 2006-2007

Facts about Blood Cancers

• Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are cancers that originate in the bone marrow or lymphatic tissue as the result of an acquired genetic injury to the DNA of a single cell. The cell then becomes malignant and multiplies continuously. This abnormal accumulation interferes with the production of healthy blood cells.
• An estimated 785,829 Americans are living with blood cancers.

Leukemia

• In the United States, 208,080 people are living with or in remission from leukemia.
• Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under the age of 20.
• The relative five-year survival rate for patients with leukemia has more than tripled in the past 46 years.

Lymphoma

• There are 519,473 people today living with lymphoma: 133,819 have or are in remission from Hodgkin lymphoma; 385,654 have or are in remission from non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is the sixth most common cancer in the United States, and its age-adjusted incidence rose 76 percent from 1975 to 2003.
• The five-year relative survival rate for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma rose from 73 percent in 1975 to 86 percent in 2002.
• The five-year relative survival rate for NHL patients rose from 48 percent in 1975 to 63 percent in 2002.

Myeloma

• In 2006, 16,570 new cases of myeloma will be diagnosed in the United States.
• Overall five-year survival rate has shown significant improvement since the 1960's, but was still only 33 percent in 2002.

Taken from a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society fact sheet.

This is the serious end of what we are doing, and this is increase in the survival rates are a direct response to the fundraising efforts for people who care to make a difference; the doctors, the not-for-profits and the fundraisers.