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As actor Ahn Sung-ki’s battle with blood cancer was revealed, interest in the types and symptoms of blood cancer is growing. / Photo = Image Today AD
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As it became known that national actor Ahn Sung-ki (70) had been battling blood cancer for over a year, interest in blood cancer is growing.
He appeared with a slightly different appearance at the opening ceremony of ‘Director Bae Chang-ho’s 40th Anniversary Special Exhibition’ held at CGV Apgujeong, Seoul on September 15th. He received support in the middle of the event, raising rumors regarding his health. After the event, Ahn Sung-ki’s agency, Artist Company, announced that he was fighting the disease, saying, “He has been receiving treatment for blood cancer for over a year.”
Hematological cancer is a generic term for cancers that occur in the blood and lymph nodes and lymph organs that have immune functions. The scariest thing regarding blood cancer is that unlike solid cancer, which causes cancer in a specific organ, cancer occurs in the blood that moves throughout the body. This is because the cancer cells also spread throughout the body as blood travels through the blood vessels and circulates throughout the body.
There are many different types of blood cancer. There are over 100 types of blood cancer, depending on the type. Among them, there is a cancer called the third major blood cancer. These are acute leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma.
Leukemia is a blood cancer that occurs when normal blood cells in the bone marrow, the organ that supplies the body’s blood, convert and multiply into cancer cells. As white blood cells transformed into malignant cells proliferate, they interfere with the production of normal white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets, and decrease the amount of normal blood cells. In this process, symptoms of infection such as fever and fatigue appear, causing fatal problems in the body.
Leukemia is divided into acute leukemia and chronic leukemia according to the rate of cell deterioration, and is divided into myeloid leukemia and lymphocytic leukemia according to the location of cancer cell changes.
In leukemia, symptoms such as anemia and bleeding are the first to appear. Systemic symptoms include fever, weakness, fatigue, and weight loss. When white blood cells invade other organs, symptoms such as pain in the bones and enlarged gums occur. When the central nervous system is invaded, symptoms such as vomiting, convulsions, and cranial nerve paralysis are accompanied.
Malignant lymphoma is cancer of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. Lymphocytes overgrowth and form tumors, mainly in the lymph nodes where lymphocytes are gathered, but also in non-lymphoid tissues.
In most cases, malignant lymphoma occurs without a clear cause, such as infection with various viruses, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or autoimmune disease as risk factors. Large lumps in the neck, armpits, and groin, where many lymph nodes are clustered, are often visited and accompanied by symptoms such as cough, chest pain, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, and weight loss.
Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer caused by abnormal differentiation and proliferation of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell. Penetrates into the bone to break the bone easily, and invades the bone marrow to decrease the amount of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. The most common symptoms include anemia and pain, and in some cases, heart and kidney abnormalities.
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