Blood cancer treatment types

You might have one type of treatment or a combination of different types. If you have blood cancer that develops slowly you may not need treatment straight away.

Your hospital team will discuss your treatment options with you and explain what types of treatment they recommend.

This page gives an overview of types of treatment for blood cancer. Each type of blood cancer has different recommended treatments. If you know what type of blood cancer you have, you can choose a specific type of blood cancer for more detail about the treatment options available.

Some people with blood cancer don’t need treatment straight away, and some never need it. If you have a slow-growing blood cancer, your doctor may recommend active monitoring, also known as watch and wait. You will be monitored with regular check-ups and blood tests, but you won’t need active treatment.

Active monitoring doesn’t mean that you can’t be treated. It’s offered when your doctor believes there’s no added benefit to starting treatment straight away.

If the cancer is not causing any troublesome symptoms, active monitoring is a safe approach that avoids the side effects of cancer treatments. You’ll only start treatment if and when you need it.

Read more about active monitoring.

Many people with blood cancer have treatment with drugs that destroy cancer cells. You might hear your hospital team call this treatment systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT). Systemic means the drugs travel throughout your body in your bloodstream.

There are many different types of drug treatment used to treat blood cancer, including:

• chemotherapy
• immunotherapy – such as monoclonal antibodies and bispecific antibodies
• targeted therapy – such as cancer growth blockers (inhibitors).

Sometimes different types of drug are used together, for example chemo-immunotherapy.

Drug treatment for blood cancer can be given in different ways, such as:

• directly into your vein (intravenous)
• injections under your skin (subcutaneous)
• tablets you take by mouth (oral).

We have a separate page explaining the different types of drug treatment for blood cancer, how they work and how you have them.

A stem cell transplant can be a treatment for some types of blood cancer. A stem cell transplant involves replacing the abnormal stem cells in your body with new, healthy stem cells.

Stem cells are cells at an early stage of development. All blood cells start off as stem cells in the bone marrow. Blood cancer happens when something goes wrong with the development of your blood cells and they multiply, becoming cancerous.

Treatment with a stem cell transplant involves destroying the abnormal stem cells that are producing cancerous blood cells. The transplant then gives your body new, healthy stem cells that can make healthy blood cells again.

A stem cell transplant is also used to replace your stem cells if you need high doses of chemotherapy to treat your blood cancer, which as a result damages your bone marrow.

There are two types of stem cell transplant:

• Autograft/autologous: where your own stem cells are collected and stored, and given back to you later by transplant
• Allograft/allogeneic: where someone else’s stem cells (a donor’s) are used for the transplant.

The way the cells are given to you during the transplant is into your vein, in a similar way to having chemotherapy or a blood transfusion.

If you’re having a stem cell transplant, order one of our free booklets that take you through the process step-by-step:

• Autologous (own cell) stem cell transplants: the seven steps
• Allogeneic (donor) stem cell transplants: the seven steps

CAR T-cell therapy (CAR-T) is a newer treatment where some of your blood cells, called T cells, are genetically altered to find and kill cancer cells.

CAR-T is a treatment option for people with certain types of blood cancer. It’s only used if:

• other treatments haven’t worked
• the blood cancer has come back after treatment.

There are several stages to having CAR-T:

• T cells are taken from your blood, using a thin tube inserted into one of your veins.
• The T cells are sent to a laboratory and genetically modified, to make CAR T-cells.
• The CAR T-cells are put back into your bloodstream, through a drip.
• The CAR T-cells attack and kill cancer cells in your body.

CAR-T is an intensive treatment that takes time to prepare for and recover from. If you or someone you care for is having CAR-T, visit our CAR-T section for more information about what to expect. It includes information for carers to help you support your loved one.

Radiotherapy uses radiation, usually x-rays, to destroy cancer cells. Many people with blood cancer don’t need radiotherapy, but doctors may use it in specific circumstances:

• For people with some types of lymphoma, to destroy cancer cells in the lymph nodes.
• For some people having a stem cell transplant, as part of conditioning therapy to prepare the body before receiving the stem cells.
• To destroy cancer cells in the brain or spinal cord if blood cancer has spread there (this is rare).
• To reduce the size of your spleen if it’s swollen and is causing problems.
• To help with bone pain if you have bone damage caused by myeloma.

Often, the rays are aimed at the part of the body where the cancer cells are, such as particular groups of lymph nodes. If you’re having radiotherapy to prepare for a stem cell transplant, the radiotherapy is aimed at your whole body and is called total body irradiation (TBI).

During radiotherapy treatment, you lie on a flat surface with the radiotherapy machine above you. You will not feel anything during the treatment, but high-energy rays will be aimed at the part of your body being treated. This will damage the cancer cells in the area being targeted.

Radiotherapy is normally given as an outpatient, and you will visit hospital daily to receive your treatment. It may take several weeks to complete a course of radiotherapy.

Surgery is rarely used to treat blood cancer. This is because the cancer is usually spread throughout the body in the blood and bone marrow, so cannot be removed with surgery.

Rarely, you might need surgery to:

• Remove a lymph node: some people need a small operation to remove a lymph node (gland) to test for lymphoma. This is called a biopsy. Surgery to remove lymph nodes is also sometimes used to treat a rare type of blood cancer called nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL).
• Remove your spleen: rarely, some people with blood cancer need surgery to remove their spleen if it has become swollen or is causing problems. This is called a splenectomy.

All new drugs and treatments are thoroughly tested before they’re made available to patients. Following tests in a laboratory, they’re tested on people. Research studies involving testing new drugs and treatments on people are called clinical trials.

Clinical trials are important, because they’re the only way to develop new treatments – and improve existing ones – for you and other people with blood cancer. Researchers can compare the effects of new drugs and treatments to find out whether they work better than the current treatment used.

Taking part in a clinical trial has many advantages, such as the opportunity to have the newest available treatment which may not be offered outside of the trial. You’ll also be very closely monitored and have detailed follow up.

Research into blood cancer and its treatment is developing all the time. This means more clinical trials are available for many different types of blood cancer.

There are often specific criteria you need to meet to be part of a clinical trial. To find out if a clinical trial is an option for you, speak to your hospital team.

Find out more about clinical trials.

Last full review October 2026. Next full review due October 2029. We may make factual updates to this information in between reviews.

Thank you to clinical nurse specialist Abbie Sellars and specialist registrar Dr Izzy Wood for checking the clinical accuracy of this information.