Leukaemia care
Leukaemia care at Thangam cancer center
Leukaemia is a type of blood cancer that originates in the bone marrow—the body’s blood cell production center. It leads to the uncontrolled growth of abnormal white blood cells, which disrupt the production of normal blood components like red blood cells, platelets, and mature white blood cells. This disruption weakens the immune system, affects oxygen delivery, and impairs blood clotting.
What is Leukaemia?
In a healthy individual, stem cells in the bone marrow mature into functional blood cells:
- White blood cells (WBCs): Defend the body against infections.
- Red blood cells (RBCs): Carry oxygen throughout the body.
- Platelets: Help in blood clotting.
In leukaemia, these blood-forming cells become cancerous and multiply uncontrollably, resulting in an excess of abnormal, immature cells that crowd out healthy cells and compromise the immune response and organ function.
Risk Factors for Leukaemia
- Age
Risk increases with age, especially for chronic forms. - Gender
Males are slightly more prone to leukaemia than females. - Genetic disorders
Conditions like Down syndrome increase risk.
Symptoms of Leukaemia
Leukaemia symptoms vary by type and progression speed, but common signs include:
Fatigue and persistent weakness
Frequent infections and fever
Night sweats
Easy bruising and bleeding (e.g., gums or nose)
Petechiae (tiny red
skin spots)
Swollen lymph nodes (neck, armpit, groin)
Shortness of
breath
Loss of appetite or early satiety due to spleen enlargement
Bone or
joint pain
Unexplained
weight loss
Prolonged or heavy menstruation in women
Types of Leukaemia
Leukaemia is classified based on how quickly the disease progresses (acute or chronic) and the type of white blood cell affected (lymphoid or myeloid). The four major types include:
Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML)
- Affects myeloid stem cells that produce RBCs, WBCs, and platelets.
- Common in adults and children.
Leukaemia Cancer Diagnosis and Management
At Thangam Hospital, our cancer specialists use advanced tools for accurate diagnosis:
Step-by-step Diagnostic Process:
- Medical history & physical examination
- Blood tests: Complete blood count (CBC) to check abnormal levels of blood cells.
Leukaemia Treatment Options at Thangam Hospital
Our multidisciplinary oncology team offers personalized treatment for all types of leukaemia, using evidence-based protocols.
- Chemotherapy is a core treatment for acute leukaemia, aiming to eliminate cancerous cells and achieve complete remission.
- Treatment is delivered in three phases:
- Remission Induction: Intense chemotherapy during hospitalization to destroy leukaemia cells in the blood and bone marrow.
- Consolidation: Chemotherapy continues to eliminate any remaining cancer cells.
- Maintenance: Low-dose chemotherapy over an extended period to maintain remission and prevent relapse.
- Chronic leukaemia patients may also receive chemotherapy, although targeted therapies are now often preferred.
- Targeted therapy interferes with specific molecules or genes that help cancer cells grow and survive.
- It is designed to selectively attack leukaemic cells, resulting in fewer side effects compared to traditional chemotherapy.
- Often used in chronic leukaemia and specific genetic subtypes of the disease.
Immunotherapy helps the body’s immune system identify and destroy leukaemia cells. Common types include:
- Antibody-Drug Conjugates: Antibodies seek and bind to cancer cells, delivering a cancer-killing drug directly to them.
- Bi-Specific Monoclonal Antibodies: These form a bridge between T cells and cancer cells, prompting immune destruction of the tumour.
- CAR T-Cell Therapy: Involves engineering the patient’s T cells to recognize and attack cancer cells.
- FDA-approved for patients under 25 years with B-cell ALL who have failed at least two prior treatments.
- Ongoing clinical trials are exploring its use in other forms of leukaemia.
- Used when standard treatments fail or in high-risk cases where remission is unlikely with chemotherapy alone.
- Typically performed when the patient is in remission, and not suitable for elderly or medically unfit individuals.
- Most patients receive an allogeneic transplant, using stem cells from a matched donor’s blood or bone marrow.
- Cord blood transplants use stem cells collected from umbilical cord and placenta.
- Patients undergo chemotherapy/radiation to prepare the bone marrow before receiving stem cells intravenously.
- Transplanted cells grow into healthy blood cells (RBCs, WBCs, platelets).
- Uses high-energy beams to kill cancer cells.
- Not a primary treatment for leukaemia, but used when the disease has spread or is likely to spread to the brain or central nervous system.
