Treatment
You will receive treatment based on the severity of your symptoms and how many organs have been affected by cancer.
Your healthcare provider will recommend a different method known as “watch and wait” if you don’t experience any symptoms. The method doesn’t involve any treatment, but your physician pays close attention to your health. You’ll be asked to do a blood test every month, so the condition can be detected early.
These treatment methods are recommended by your health care provider if you show symptoms:
- Chemotherapy: Drugs that contain potent chemicals are used to destroy cancer cells. The drugs can be administered orally or intravenously.
- Biological therapy: Your doctor will prescribe drugs to strengthen your immune system when fighting infection. It also helps your immune system produce substances to kill cancer cells. It is taken via injection.
- Targeted therapy: Your doctor prescribed these medications to destabilize several proteins or enzymes that strengthen the cancer cells. The drugs are administered orally.
- Plasma exchange: In severe cases, you may have to reduce the immunoglobulin M levels in your body. Your doctor recommends a plasma exchange to do this. This method involves hooking you up to an IV and then filtering your blood using a machine that separates the liquid portion of your blood (plasma) [6], from other blood cells. Your doctor may want you to lower your levels of immunoglobulin M. To do this, you may need a plasma exchange. In this treatment, you’re hooked up to an IV. Your blood is filtered through a machine that separates the liquid part of your blood (plasma) from the blood cells, to remove immunoglobulin M.
- Stem cell transplant: This method involves using high doses of chemotherapy to fight cancer cells in your bone marrow. Your bone marrow may also be replaced with stem cells, which develop into the new, strong, and healthy bone marrow. It would help to know that this method is not often recommended by doctors.
- Clinical trials: This involves using treatment methods that have not been legalized by the FDA for experimental purposes.
Conclusion
Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia is a rare form of cancer that spreads slowly. Early detection is imperative for effective treatment. You may experience some side effects during treatment. You should speak to your health care provider to help control these effects.
References
[1] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/non-hodgkins-lymphoma/symptoms-causes/syc-20375680
[2] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/158800
[3] https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9639-headaches
[4] https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/fevers-causes-symptoms-treatments
[5] https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/conditions/vision_and_eye_health/types_of_vision_problems.htm
[6] https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=160&ContentID=37