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Cancer and blood disorder treatment
Being diagnosed with Cancer
A diagnosis of cancer is life-changing and most people will experience a range of emotions.
At any stage after a cancer diagnosis it is normal to feel stress, shock, fear, anger and anxiety. People may have many questions about cancer, what treatments are available, what side effects they may experience during treatment and what supports are available to help them.
The information on this page is to help with some of those questions. It is important to talk to your treating team about any concerns you may have, they are there to support you.
What is Cancer?
Cancer is a disease of cells. Cells are what make up our tissues and organs. Normally, our cells grow and multiply to make new cells as our body needs them. When our cells grow old or become damaged the new cells take their place.
Sometimes this process goes wrong and cancer begins when cells in the body become abnormal, grow and multiply out of control. Because cells are everywhere in our body this means that cancer can also affect almost any part of the body.
Cancer is not a single disease there are over 100 types of cancer.
Learn more about cancer from Cancer Australia
Types of Cancer
There are many different types of cancer. Learn more about the different types of cancer.
Treating Cancer
There are different ways to treat cancer and sometimes a combination of treatments is needed. Your treating team will talk with you about the best treatment for your cancer.
Learn more about the different types of cancer treatment
Side Effects of Cancer Treatment
All treatments for cancer have risk of side effects. The types of side effects you experience depends on the type of treatment you have and varies from person to person.
You may experience one or more side effects, some people don’t experience any side effects. Some side effects go away quickly while others can take weeks, months or years to improve.It is important to remember that every person’s experience of side effects will be different.
Side effects can be managed, your treating team will talk to you about side effects of treatment and what can be done to help manage side effects if you do experience them. Make sure that you talk to your treating team about any symptoms or side effects that concern you.
Find out more information on some of the different types of side effects
Resources are also available in other languages
Blood Disorders
Not all blood disorders are cancer.
Haematologists are doctors who specialise in people with blood disorders like leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma but also blood disorders that are not cancer.
Some blood disorders that are not cancer include:
