Diagnostic and Treatment Options for Hematologic Cancers
Sophisticated blood tests, bone marrow biopsies, and genetic analysis may be used in diagnosing your condition. A hematopathologist, a pathologist who specializes in blood disorders and cancers, will assess the blood and bone marrow.
As part of the diagnostic process, your physician may order imaging tests, including chest x-rays, ultrasound, CT scans, MRI, and PET scans.
Chemotherapy, targeted therapies, and immunotherapy are the primary treatments for hematologic cancers depending on what type of cancer is found. These therapies use drugs to prevent cancer cells from multiplying, by eliminating the nutrients the cancer cells need to survive, or by eradicating them.
Learn more about our chemotherapy services
Other treatment options include:
- Radiation therapy
- Stem cell transplant
Partnership with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Under a program called Shared Care, Lifespan Cancer Institute partners with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to treat patients who require bone marrow transplants. The patient undergoes the transplant procedure at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center in Boston and receives associated care in Rhode Island at Lifespan hospitals. This benefits patients by providing the expertise of specialists at both institutes while relieving some of the burden and expense of travel for them and their caregivers, especially during the long-term follow-up that bone marrow transplant requires.