Cohort Profile Update: The Haematological Malignancy Research Network (HMRN) UK population-based cohorts

Abstract

Arising in blood and lymph-forming tissues, haematological malignancies (blood cancers) are the fourth most common cancer in men (after prostate, lung and bowel) and women (after breast, lung and bowel) in the UK and other economically developed countries. Traditionally classified by site [currently International Classification of Diseases version 10 (ICD-10)] according to whether cancer is first detected in blood (leukaemias), lymph nodes (lymphomas) or bone marrow (myelomas), the introduction of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s 2001 classification of tumours of haematopoietic and lymphoid tissues integrating genetic data with information on morphology, immunology and clinical parameters was paradigm-changing.