Blood Cancer Symptoms: Jurassic Park Star Sam Neill Announces He Is In Treatment After Diagnosis

Sam Neill has announced he is being treated for stage three blood cancer after being diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL).

The Jurassic Park star opened up about how his condition has deteriorated in his forthcoming memoir, did i ever tell you that “The thing is, I’m a crook. Possibly dying.” he writes. “Maybe I need to speed this up.”

Before publication, he conducted an interview with The guard about how his book helped him stay positive when he had “nothing to do” and was deprived of the “human company” he had at work every day.

“I never intended to write a book,” he said. “But as I went on and kept writing, I realized that it actually gave me a reason to live, and I would go to bed thinking, ‘I’m going to write about this tomorrow… this will entertain me.’ And so it was really a lifesaver because I couldn’t have gotten through this without doing something, you know.

Per The guardNeill first had swollen glands while promoting Jurassic World Dominion in March of last year and was soon diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. He will take chemotherapy drugs for the rest of his life, although he is now cancer-free.

Here’s everything you need to know about the actor’s blood cancer, from the early signs to diagnosing the condition.

What is blood cancer and what type does Neill have?

Although there are many different forms of blood cancer, they typically begin in the bone marrow, where blood is produced Yale medicine. It is often “caused by a dysfunction in cell growth and behavior,” such as B. “excessive production of white blood cells in the bone marrow”.

The medical side also points out that there are three main types of blood cancer: leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Neill’s condition is a form of lymphoma, which is a cancer of part of the immune system, particularly in the body’s lymph nodes.

As noted by the Lymphoma Research FoundationAITL is often a form of peripheral T-cell lymphomawhich is “defined as a diverse group of aggressive lymphomas that develop from mature white blood cells called T cells and natural killer (NK) cells.”

It is “one of the most common subtypes of T-cell lymphoma,” with older patients being more likely to be diagnosed. However, the condition is fairly rare, accounting for only 2 percent of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases in the US, which is one of the major subtypes of lymphoma.

How to diagnose this type of lymphoma

To diagnose AITL, doctors can take a biopsy from patients and look at their cells under a microscope, according to the Lymphoma Research Foundation. Blood tests, computed tomography (CT), bone marrow biopsy, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can also diagnose it, depending on how far the condition has progressed.

The medical side also points out that patients with this disease are usually diagnosed with stage III or IV of the disease. In stage III, “affected lymph nodes are found both above and below the diaphragm,” while in stage IV, “one or more organs beyond the lymph nodes” are affected.

What are the symptoms of this condition?

While symptoms can vary, some common symptoms include high fever, night sweats, rash, and autoimmune disorders, according to the Lymphoma Research Foundation. Some of these disorders can be autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) and immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).

As a result of these autoimmune diseases, “the body’s immune system attacks its own cells and tissues, such as red blood cells or platelets.”

In general, lymphoma symptoms can also range from unexplained weight loss to itchy skin to shortness of breath, according to the Mayo Clinic.

How to treat AITL

Symptoms of AITL can include joint inflammation or pain and a rash that can be temporarily relieved with steroid treatment the Foundation for Lymphoma Research.

The organization also recommends “a multi-agent chemotherapy regimen” or participation in a clinical trial as the first line of treatment for patients. Chemotherapy could also be followed by stem cell transplantation, in which patients receive healthy blood cells to replace those destroyed by radiation.

A few drugs have been tested and seen as promising treatments, such as brentuximab vedotin, lenalidomide, and panobinostat.