The word cancer continues to frighten, and a lot. And no wonder, since it has already overtaken cardiovascular diseases as the leading cause of death in our country, thus becoming the most feared pathology by the general population. And if there is a group of tumors that is especially worrying, it is hematological cancer, already perched in fifth position of the most frequent tumors in Spain, only surpassed by breast, prostate, lung and colon. In fact, it is estimated that In 2025, 25,770 new cases of blood tumors will be diagnosed, which means 10% of the total of the new neoplasms that will be detected next year, as the report advances «Blood cancer figures in Spain»presented last Tuesday by the Spanish Society of Hematology and Hemotherapy (SEHH) and the Spanish Network of Cancer Registries (Redecan).
It is more than proven that cancer is not a single disease, but many, a characteristic that is even clearer, if possible, When we talk about hematological cancer, where the heterogeneity of types and subtypes is almost infinite.. «Among all of them the Lymphoid neoplasms are the most frequentrepresenting 71% of the total number of hematological tumors estimated for 2025,” says Rafael Marcos-Gragera, a physician at the Girona Cancer Epidemiology and Registry Unit (ICO-Girona) and coordinator of the HematoRedecan research group. In fact, “Lymphomas, in general, are the seventh most common tumors in humans and the trend we are seeing in recent years is a slight increase.due to the aging of the population, since it is usually detected mostly between the ages of 60 and 65,” he adds. Raul Cordobacoordinator of the Lymphoma Unit of the Jiménez Díaz Foundation University Hospital in Madrid and member of the ECO Foundation.
With the aim of raising awareness about the prevalence of this hematological tumor, each September 15 is World Lymphoma Daya quote that allows us to review the progress that is being made in this type of cancer, ever closer to a cure in a good number of subtypes, since we must not forget that there are more than 60.
The overall survival rate for blood cancers during the period analysed in the report (2009-2018) was 62.1%. Within this group, “Lymphoid neoplasms showed a better prognosis, with a five-year survival rate after diagnosis of 67.9%a figure that is higher in current diagnoses thanks to the revolutionary therapeutic arsenal that we have at our disposal and that has proven to be very effective in some cases, although the truth is that we need time for that to be reflected in the statistics,” he acknowledges. Alexander Martinvice president of the Spanish Lymphoma Group (Geltamo) and member of the Lymphoma Unit of the Salamanca University Clinical Hospital.
Reasons for hope
The truth is that there are reasons for hope when it comes to lymphomas. «Survival rates are currently improving in all subtypes and we are able to cure a very high percentage of the most common type, which is diffuse large cell lymphoma, as well as making the disease chronic in the other two most common lymphomas, such as follicular lymphoma.. For all these reasons, it is possible to live with a good quality of life after the diagnosis of these hematological tumors,” says Córdoba. As the spokesperson for the ECO Foundation advances, “The future lies in abandoning strategies based on chemotherapy”. What was done in past decades no longer makes sense today. This is due to the research revolution led by three treatment strategies: immunotherapy, capable of not affecting healthy cells; Molecular targeted therapieswith a different mechanism of action that allows it to be combined with immunotherapy to be more effective, and, thirdly, Cell therapy, among which the famous CAR-T cells stand outwith very good results in some cases.”
Serious inequity in access
Under this halo of hope that underlies the successes of research, essential for innovative drugs to arrive, it remains to be seen whether they can be improved. “We need to call attention because there is a lot of innovation and very good news in lymphomas thanks to research, but The reality is that these revolutionary drugs only reach patients through clinical trials and that is not the solution. In other European countries, lives are already being saved thanks to this innovation and in Spain it is not possible. “because they are not incorporated into the portfolio of services. There is a lot of inequality,” denounces Córdoba, who advises patients to “ask their haematologist about the possibility of joining clinical trials.”
