Acute Leukaemia Treatment – Introduction

Leukemia is a cancer of the blood cells. It starts in the bone marrow, where blood cells are made. Treatment for leukemia can be complex and expensive.

In India, the government provides free treatment for leukemia at select hospitals. The best hospitals for leukemia treatment in India are located in Mumbai, Chennai, and Delhi. These hospitals have state-of-the-art facilities and experienced doctors who provide world-class treatment to patients.

Patients from all over the world come to India for leukemia treatment because of the high success rate and affordable cost of treatment.

The Indian government is committed to providing quality healthcare to all its citizens and has made significant investments in developing world-class hospitals like those mentioned above.

Symptoms of Leukemia Cancer

Signs and symptoms of Leukemia vary, based upon the type of leukemia the patient is suffering from. The most common leukemia signs and symptoms are listed below –

• Having Fever or chills quite often
• Feeling of fatigue and weakness persistently
• Having frequent severe infections
• Significant weight loss without any efforts
• Swelling in lymph nodes and increase in size of liver or spleen
• Bleeding or bruising happens very easily
• Frequent nosebleeds
• Having small red spots throughout your skin
• Sweating heavily, especially during night time
• Pain or tenderness in bones

We highly recommend you to get yourself checked if you have above symptoms so that timely guidance can be taken regarding further course of action.

How Leukemia Cancer is Diagnosed?

Following are the tests and procedures used for diagnosis of acute leukemia:

• Blood tests – Blood tests help in finding out the presence of too many or too few white blood cells and not enough red blood cells or platelets. It may also confirm the presence of blast cells which are immature cells usually found in the bone marrow.
• Bone Marrow Test – Your doctor may advise bone marrow aspiration and biopsy as well. During this test, a needle is used to take a sample of bone marrow from a patient’s hipbone or breastbone. The sample is then sent to the lab for testing to find out for the presence of leukaemia cells.
  The experts at the lab will categorize blood cells into specific categories depending upon their shape, size, other molecular and genetic features. They also look for any changes in the cancer cells and figure out whether the leukaemia cells had begun from T lymphocytes or B lymphocytes. This information will help your doctor to develop your treatment plan.
• Imaging tests – Your doctor may also advise imaging tests like x-ray, or ultrasound or CTscan that may help in determining whether your cancer has reached the brain and spinal cord or other body parts or not.
• Spinal Fluid Test – A lumbar puncture test, also known as spinal tap, shall be performed to collect a sample of spinal fluid (a fluid substance that surrounds your brain and spinal cord). The sample is then studied to find out whether cancer cells have spread to spinal fluid or not.

Leukaemia Cancer Treatment in India

The treatment of Acute Leukaemia in India typically has 2 phases:

• Remission Induction Therapy: The aim of this first phase of treatment is to kill the leukemia cells in your blood and bone marrow and thus put the leukemia into remission mode.
• Postremission Therapy: The second phase of treatment starts after the leukemia is in remission mode. The goal of this therapy is to destroy any remaining leukemia cells which might not be active but have chances of regrowing and thus cause a relapse. This phase is also known asRemission Continuation Therapy.

Leukaemia is a cancer of the blood cells and bone marrow. It is a very aggressive form of cancer that can be difficult to treat. Leukaemia treatment in India is typically done with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and stem cell transplant but there are other options which are mentioned below that are used by the best leukemia doctors in India.

• Chemotherapy : Chemotherapy makes use of drugs for killing cancer cells. It is normally used as an induction therapy for both children and adults who are suffering from acute lymphocytic leukaemia. The way the chemotherapy is administered varies depending upon the sub-category of leukemia being treated and whether affected cells have spread to the brain and spinal cord.
• Targeted Therapy : Targeted drug treatment targets specific abnormalities found within cancer cells. So, by blocking these abnormalities, targeted drug treatments can make cancer cells die down. The leukemia cells get tested to rule out if targeted therapy would be helpful for your leukemia type. This therapy can either be used alone or in combination with other therapies like chemotherapy. However, targeted therapies usually cause lesser harm to your normal cells as compared to chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
• Radiation Therapy : Radiation therapy makes use of high-energy beams like x-rays or protons for killing cancerous cells. If the cancer cells are found to have spread to the central nervous system, then your doctor may advise radiation therapy. RT is also sometimes used to prepare a patient’s body for a stem cell transplant in cases where the leukemia has reappeared.
• Bone Marrow Transplant : Bone Marrow Transplant is also referred to as Stem Cell Transplant. It may be used as consolidation therapy or for treatment of relapse cases. This procedure helps patients with leukemia to re-establish their healthy bone marrow by substituting leukemic bone marrow with leukemia-free marrow from a healthy person.
  A bone marrow transplant starts with high doses of chemotherapy or radiation to kill leukemia-producing bone marrow. The marrow is thereafter replaced by bone marrow from a well-matched donor. This type of transplant is known as allogeneic transplant.
• CAR – T Cell Therapy : A focused treatment known as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy is used to take your body’s germ-fighting T cells which are engineered to fight against cancer. Once it is ready to be infused, your haematologist will infuse it back into your body. CAR-T cell therapy can be a treatment option for both children as well as young adults.

The treatment for leukemia in India is often expensive and beyond the reach of many people. There are a number of government and private hospitals that offer leukemia cancer treatment in India. The cost of treatment depends on the stage of the disease and the type of treatment required. The average cost of treatment for leukemia in India is start from $6,000 USD.