What is blood cancer? Sam Neill reveals he’s in treatment for stage-three diagnosis

Sam Neill has revealed that he is undergoing treatment in the third stage. Blood cancerfollowing a diagnosis of angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL).

gave Jurassic Park The star addressed how In his later memory, his condition worsened. Did I ever tell you this? “The thing is, I’m a badass. Possibly dying.” he writes. “I might have to speed it up.”

Before the release, he did an interview Guardian He talks about how his book has helped him stay positive, as he found himself “with nothing to do” and was missing the “human company” he worked with every day.

“I never had any intention of writing a book,” he said. “But as I went on and wrote, I realized that it was actually giving me a reason to live and I’d go to bed thinking, ‘I’ll write about this tomorrow… something that entertains me. will provide.’ And so it was really a life saver, because I couldn’t do anything with it, you know.

per GuardianNeil suffered from groin swelling while doing publicity for the first time Jurassic World Dominion In March last year and soon after was diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. He will be on chemotherapy drugs for the rest of his life, although he is now cancer-free.

Here’s everything to know about the actor’s blood cancer, from early symptoms to how to diagnose the condition.

What is blood cancer and what type of disease does Neil have?

Although there are many different forms of blood cancer, they usually start in one’s bone marrow, where blood is produced. Yale Medicine. It is often caused by “impaired cellular growth and behavior”, such as “overproduction of white blood cells in the bone marrow”.

The medical site also notes that there are three main types of blood cancer: leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. Neal’s condition is a form of lymphoma, which is cancer in a part of the immune system, particularly in the body’s lymph nodes.

As noted by the Lymphoma Research Foundation.AITL is often a form of Peripheral T-cell lymphomawhich is defined as “a diverse group of aggressive lymphomas that arise from mature white blood cells called T-cells and natural killer (NK) cells”.

It is “one of the most common subtypes of T-cell lymphomas,” with older patients more likely to be diagnosed. However, this condition is quite rare, accounting for only 2 percent of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cases in the United States, one of the main subtypes of lymphoma.

How is this type of lymphoma diagnosed?

According to the Lymphoma Research Foundation, to diagnose AITL, doctors may take biopsies from patients and look at their cells under a microscope. Depending on how advanced the condition is, it can also be determined through blood tests, computed tomography (CT) scans, bone marrow biopsies, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.

The medical site also notes that patients with it are usually diagnosed with stage III or stage IV disease. During stage III, “affected lymph nodes are found both above and below the diaphragm”, while “one or more organs outside the lymph nodes” are affected during stage IV.

What are the symptoms of this condition?

Although symptoms can vary, some common symptoms include high fever, night sweats, skin rashes, and autoimmunity, according to the Lymphoma Research Foundation. Some of these disorders can be autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) and immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).

As a result of these autoimmune diseases, “the body’s immune system attacks its own cells and tissues, such as red blood cells or platelets”.

Typically, lymphoma symptoms range from unexplained weight loss to itchy skin, shortness of breath, According to the Mayo Clinic.

How to treat AITL

Symptoms of AITL may include joint inflammation or pain and skin rash, which can be temporarily relieved by steroids. TreatmentAccording to Lymphoma Research Foundation.

The organization also recommends that patients participate in a “multiagent chemotherapy regimen” or clinical trial as the first form of treatment. Stem cell transplantation can also be done after chemotherapy, when patients receive healthy blood cells to replace those that have been destroyed by radiation.

Some drugs have been tested and are seen as a promising form of treatment, such as Brentuximab vedotin, Lenalidomide, and Panobinostat.