WM the Basics
You might hear people use other terms when they talk about your Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia:
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Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) – this is a term used for a big group of blood cancers, to which WM belongs
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B-cell lymphoma – this is a term used to describe blood cancers like WM that affect a type of white blood cell called a B-cell
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Lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL) – WM and LPL are often used interchangeably but they are slightly different diseases. If you’ve been diagnosed with LPL, you can find out more below.
What causes WM?
Your blood is made up of different cells: red blood cells, white blood cells and plasma cells. These cells are made inside your bones, in what’s known as your bone marrow. Sometimes, the process goes wrong, and the cells develop incorrectly, or abnormally.
With Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia, it is a type of white blood cell called B-cells that develop abnormally. Even though these abnormal B-cells aren’t of any use to your body, they keep getting produced and crowd out the other, healthy, cells.
This means the healthy cells can’t do their jobs properly, causing many of the symptoms people with WM feel like fatigue, unexplained bruising or increased infections.
Newly diagnosed FAQ's
When you’ve just been diagnosed, you’re likely to have lots of questions. To help support you, we’ve answered some of the most common questions here. if you still have questions you can always contact our Support Line or our Community Support Manager.