Waldenström macroglobulinaemia (WM)
Waldenström macroglobulinaemia (WM) is a slow-growing and rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). It affects blood cells called plasma cells.

Waldenström macroglobulinaemia (WM) at a glance
Waldenström macroglobulinaemia (WM) is a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that affects blood cells called plasma cells. It’s slow growing and may not need treatment straight away.
Sign up to our weekly support email for people recently diagnosed.
It gives you clear and simple information, practical tips and advice from others with blood cancer, to help during the first few weeks and months after diagnosis.
If someone you love has been diagnosed with WM, you might find our information for family and friends helpful. It covers how to support someone with blood cancer, practical tips, coping with your own emotions, and real stories from other friends and family members.
You may also want to try our podcast for family and friends, Blood Cancer Heart to Heart, featuring honest conversations between people who know what it's like to have a loved one diagnosed with blood cancer.
General symptoms include extreme tiredness and having lots of infections that last longer than usual. Other symptoms depend on how WM affects you personally. You’ll have a range of tests to confirm the diagnosis of WM.
The main treatment for WM is cancer-killing chemotherapy drugs. You may also have immunotherapy drugs which help your immune system to destroy cancer cells.
If you don’t have many symptoms when you’re diagnosed, you may not be treated straight away but will have regular check-ups to monitor the WM.
Your prognosis (what is likely to happen in the future), depends on your personal circumstances and how the WM develops.
Our research in lymphoma has focused on improving treatments. Read about our scientific impact on lymphoma.

Get a weekly support email from us
We'll send you clear and simple information, practical tips, and advice from other people with blood cancer, to help during the first few weeks and months after diagnosis.