bone marrow cancer
Meaning of bone marrow cancer: This umbrella term spans several distinct diseases with different outlooks, so identifying the specific type is essential to understanding what it means.
Definition of bone marrow cancer
Bone marrow cancer is a general term for cancer that develops from the blood forming cells within the bone marrow, the soft tissue inside bones responsible for producing red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Rather than describing a single disease, it is an umbrella term covering several distinct conditions that arise from different cell types within the marrow.
The term most often encompasses the various types of leukemia, cancers of the white blood cells or their precursors, and multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells, a specific type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Each of these conditions behaves differently, with its own typical course and approach to treatment.
Because bone marrow cancer covers such a range of distinct diseases, identifying the specific type present, along with additional testing of the abnormal cells involved, is necessary to understand a particular diagnosis, since the general label alone does not describe how a specific cancer is expected to behave.
Used in a sentence
Bone marrow biopsy confirmed a bone marrow cancer, later identified as a specific type of leukemia.
Good to know
Bone marrow cancer is a broad umbrella term rather than a single diagnosis, so the specific type present, such as a particular form of leukemia or multiple myeloma, determines the expected course.