Fatigue Could Signal Blood cancer, Experts Urge Early Consultation
PARIS – Persistent, unexplained fatigue should prompt a medical consultation, as it can be an early symptom of blood cancers like lymphoma and leukemia, according to hematologist Dr. Nathalie Chéron. While fatigue is a common ailment, dismissing it without inquiry could delay diagnosis and treatment of potentially serious conditions.
blood cancers, encompassing leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, affect thousands annually. Early detection considerably improves treatment outcomes, particularly with rapidly evolving therapies like immunotherapy and CAR-T cell therapy now offering promising results. Dr. Chéron emphasizes that while genetic predisposition is rare – observing only two families with myeloma, three with lymphoma, and four with acute leukemia in forty years of practice – environmental and occupational factors play a ample role in risk.
Dr. Chéron identifies several risk factors, including age and exposure to chemicals like benzene, found in glues and paints. Notably, the pesticide chlordecone, historically used in West Indian bananas, has been linked to increased rates of blood cancers, specifically myeloma, and prostate cancer in Martinique and Guadeloupe. Certain professions also carry heightened risk,including farmers exposed to insecticides,pesticides,and herbicides,as well as printers working with inks,and even bodybuilders due to paint exposure. in some cases, these cancers “can be declared in an occupational disease.”
treatments for blood cancers are advancing rapidly.While chemotherapy remains relevant, immunotherapy and allografts are increasingly utilized. the most promising advancement is CAR-T cell therapy, approved since 2019, wich involves genetically modifying a patient’s own T lymphocytes to target cancer cells. This personalized treatment has demonstrated an 80% response rate in high-grade lymphomas with a single injection, and is expected to expand to othre hematological pathologies like acute lymphoblastic leukemia and myeloma.Further advancements, such as bispecific antibodies in combination with CAR-T cells, are also on the horizon.
