Blood cancer currently makes up around 10% of all cancers in America, which include conditions such as lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma.

News 12’s own Kristie Reeter lost her father to this cancer but is incredibly grateful of the advancements in treatment that have been made.

“It is truly amazing in how far we have come in the fight of blood cancers” says Reeter.

Dr. Matthew Matasar, a lymphoma specialist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for fifteen years, says that the amount of change in treatments for blood cancers is astonishing – highlighting that while the focus is on making treatments more effective, it’s also about making them “less toxic” he says.

As Blood Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, Dr. Matasar urges people to listen to their bodies, reach out for care, and donate. 

“The signs of blood cancer can be non-specific” says Dr. Matasar. “fevers that have been otherwise unexplained or weight loss that you don’t really understand why it is happening.” 

Donations don’t only have to come in the form of money – stem cell donation, which is no more complex than it would be to get blood drawn, can be extremely helpful to those dealing with blood cancers.

“There is this old misconception that to be a bone marrow donor or a stem cell donor would require a surgery, invasive procedures” says Dr. Matasar “that really is a thing of the past.”

For those interested in signing up for stem cell donation, you can do so through here.