Blood Cancer Treatment in India: Blood cancer represents a large group of different malignancies. This group includes cancers of the bone marrow, blood, and lymphatic system, which includes lymph nodes, lymphatic vessels, tonsils, thymus, spleen, and digestive tract lymphoid tissue. Leukemia and myeloma, which start in the bone marrow, and lymphoma, which starts in the lymphatic system, are the most common types of blood cancer. What causes these cancers is not known.
As leukemia and myeloma grow within the bone marrow, they can interfere with the bone marrow’s ability to produce normal blood cells, including white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. This can cause frequent infections, anemia, and easy bruising. Lymphomas, which most typically appear as enlargement of the lymph nodes, can also interfere with the body’s ability to fight infections. Additionally, myelomas generate a substance that weakens bones, and produce abnormal proteins that can cause symptoms in other parts of the body.
Treatment of blood cancers has undergone substantial improvements, resulting in increased rates of remission and survival.
Symptoms of Blood Cancer:
Some common symptoms of blood cancer are:
- Weakness, Fatigue, Malaise and Breathlessness
- Minimal body strain results inbone fractures
- Excessive or easy bruising
- Bleeding gums or frequent nose bleeds
- Recurrent infections or fever
- Excessive sweating of body during night
- Weight loss
- Frequent vomiting sensations
- Anorexia
- Lymph node (gland) enlargement
- Lumps or abdominal distension due to enlarged abdominal organs
- Abdominal pain, Bone pain and Back pain
- Delirium and confusion
- Abnormal bleeding in gums nose and cuts, which will result in platelet reduction
- Headaches with occurrence of visual difficulties
- Occurrence of fine rashes on dark spots
- Decreased urination and difficulty whil urinating
Some of the specific leukemia blood cancer symptoms are anemia, recurrent infections, bone and joint pain, abdominal distress and difficult in breathing or dyspnea.
In case of lymphomas blood cancer the symptoms depend on location of cancer, where it has spread, and the size of the tumor. It begins with swelling in the neck, underarm, or groin.
The first sign of multiple myeloma is bone pain due to bony distruction by plasma cells. Some of the prominent symptoms include bleeding gums, nose bleeds and easy bruising. Unexplained bone fractures, kidney failure, persistent infections and weight loss are other signs of the disease.
Causes of Blood Cancer:
Blood cancer begins with a single mutated cell. Located in the bloodstream or the bone marrow, that cell will begin to multiply, creating other mutated cells. These cells, rather than maturing and dying, accumulate in the body until they become one of the three main types of blood cancer: leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Beyond this basic process, the causes of blood cancer remain a mystery. Over the past 30 years, however, medical knowledge has increased dramatically, and doctors have offered their conjectures.
Some general causes are:
- Exposure to radiation.
- Exposure to chemicals.
- Human T-cell Leukaemia Virus (HTLV)
- Genetic factors (chromosomal abnormalities).
Types of Blood Cancer:
There are four types of blood cancer depending upon the course of the disease and the origin of the affected blood cells. The former criterion classifies the types into either acute or chronic. The later criterion further divides the types as lymphoblastic or lymphocytic leukemias and myeloid or myelogenous leukemias.
Blood primarily consists of red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC) and platelets. The red blood cells provide oxygen to the entire body. The white blood cells protect our body and platelets helps in clotting of the blood in the face of injury. Irrespective of the types of the disease, any abnormality in these cell types leads to blood cancer.
Based on these above mentioned criteria, the main categories of blood cancer are as follows:
- Acute Lymphocytic or Lymphoblastic Leukemias (ALL)
- Chronic Lymphocytic or Lymphoblastic Leukemias (CLL)
- Acute Myelogenous or Myeloid Leukemias (AML)
- Chronic Myelogenous or Myeloid Leukemias (CML)
Acute Lymphocytic: Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow — the spongy tissue inside bones where blood cells are made. The word “acute” in acute lymphocytic leukemia comes from the fact that the disease progresses rapidly and affects immature blood cells, rather than mature ones. The “lymphocytic” in acute lymphocytic leukemia refers to the white blood cells called lymphocytes, which ALL affects. Acute lymphocytic leukemia is also known as acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute childhood leukemia.
Chronic Lymphocytic: Leukaemia literally means ‘many white cells in the blood’. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (also called CLL) is a blood and bone marrow disease that usually gets worse slowly. CLL is the second most common type of leukemia in adults. It often occurs during or after middle age; it rarely occurs in children. Normally, the body makes blood stem cells (immature cells) that develop into mature blood cells over time. A blood stem cell may become a myeloid stem cell or a lymphoid stem cell.
Treatment of Blood Cancer:
Blood cancer is rather a cluster of cancers developed in the blood cells and therefore the patients with leukaemia requires special treatment. The special cancer centres can only meet those special needs. The treatment of blood cancer is a complete program which the patients have to follow in order to achieve best results. These include:
- Chemotherapy: is the first method to destroy those leukaemic cells by the usage of anti cancer drugs.
- Interferon therapy: is effective to slow down the rate of reproduction of the leukaemic cells and helps the immune system to build sufficient anti- leukaemia activity.
- Radiation therapy: this therapy is effective to kill cancer cells with the process of exposure to high- energy radiations.
- Stem Cell Transplantation: This procedure is required in order to enable treatment with high doses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
- Surgery: The surgery is performed for the removal of an enlarged spleen or to install a venous access device to give medications and withdraw blood samples.
Diagnosis of Blood Cancer:
Doctors sometimes find leukemia after a routine blood test. If you have symptoms that suggest leukemia, your doctor will try to find out what’s causing the problems. Your doctor may ask about your personal and family medical history. You may have one or more of the following tests:
- Physical exam: Your doctor checks for swollen lymph nodes, spleen, or liver
- Blood tests: The lab does a complete blood count to check the number of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets.
- Biopsy: Your doctor removes tissue to look for cancer cells. A biopsy is the only sure way to know whether leukemia cells are in your bone marrow. Before the sample is taken, local anesthesia is used to numb the area. This helps reduce the pain. Your doctor removes some bone marrow from your hipbone or another large bone. A pathologist uses a microscope to check the tissue for leukemia cells.
There are two ways your doctor can obtain bone marrow. Some people will have both procedures during the same visit:
- Bone marrow aspiration: The doctor uses a thick, hollow needle to remove samples of bone marrow.
- Bone marrow biopsy: The doctor uses a very thick, hollow needle to remove a small piece of bone and bone marrow.
Other Tests:
The tests that your doctor orders for you depend on your symptoms and type of leukemia. You may have other tests:
- Cytogenetics: The lab looks at the chromosomes of cells from samples of blood, bone marrow, or lymph nodes. If abnormal chromosomes are found, the test can show what type of leukemia you have. For example, people with CML have an abnormal chromosome called the Philadelphia chromosome.
- Spinal tap: Your doctor may remove some of the cerebrospinal fluid (the fluid that fills the spaces in and around the brain and spinal cord). The doctor uses a long, thin needle to remove fluid from the lower spine. The procedure takes about 30 minutes and is performed with local anesthesia. You must lie flat for several hours afterward to keep from getting a headache. The lab checks the fluid for leukemia cells or other signs of problems.
- Chest x-ray: An x-ray can show swollen lymph nodes or other signs of disease in your chest.
What is the definition of Lymphoma – Blood related Cancer?
Lymphoma is defined as cancer of the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system carries lymph fluid and white blood cells throughout body. The lymph system is made up of many cells and organs, including the lymph nodes, thymus gland, spleen and liver. This system produces B-Cells and T-Cells, which make up your body’s immune system. Since these cells travel between the lymphatic and circulatory system while fighting infections and viruses, Lymphomas are Blood-related cancers. The purpose of the lymphatic system is to fight infections. Like all cancers, lymphoma happens when the body’s cells grow out of control, often causing tumors to grow. Most lymphomas are made up of white blood cells called either T cells or B cells. Lymphoma cells are sometimes found in the blood, but tend to form solid tumors in the lymph system or in organs. These tumors can often be felt as a painless lump or swollen gland almost anywhere in the body.
India has emerged as a prime destination for medical tourists from around the globe. This includes a various types of treatments and surgeries including the Lymphoma treatment in India. The services on offer range from executive health packages to complicated heart surgeries. Medical travelers come to India from Western nations to take advantage of the low cost of medical procedures, which are 40 to 80 percent lower in comparison to healthcare costs in their home countries. Medical tourists from Asia and Africa are attracted to India‘s superior quality in healthcare, accredited medical facilities, and Western-trained qualified medical personnel. They have set a high quality benchmark for many international patients waiting to be treated for medical ailment in India.
Medical tourists from Asia and Africa are attracted to India‘s superior quality in healthcare, accredited medical facilities, and western-trained qualified medical personnel. The low cost Lymphoma treatment in India is a driving force of medical tourism in since the level of healthcare service are the best in the leading hospitals and medical centers and which can be comparable to what is being offered in US and UK hospitals and also happen to be superior to most Asian countries. Patients from western nations who opt for the Lymphoma treatment in India get the same facilities and the same type of medical services in a manner that they are accustomed to, as doctors, nurses and other health professionals are trained and certified to western standards and practices.
Cost of Blood Cancer Treatment in India
In India the cost of the Blood Cancer Treatment is very low in comparison with other countries. Low cost and quality is a major reason that international patients visit India. Many international patients look for a low cost option as they don’t have medical insurance and the cost of the treatment in their own country is very high. So, they search for countries where they can get the quality treatment at low cost. The table below shows the cost difference in India and other countries.
Blood Cancer treatment in India:
There are many reasons to select India for Blood Cancer Treatment. As it is one of the best medical tourist destinations across the world. Quite a few Indian cities have emerged as medical tourism hotspots for foreign patients. Few of them are Mumbai, Hyderabad, Goa, Bangalore, Nagpur, Kerala, Delhi, Pune, Jaipur, Chennai, Gurgaon, and Chandigarh.
Reference : Blood Cancer Signs, Symptoms & Diagnosis | Types of Blood Cancer: Lymphoma, Leukemia