Treatment Of Blood Cancer
Treatment of blood cancer depends on the type of disease and the patient’s overall health condition. Majorly, the treatment approaches are as follows:
1. Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy medicines are the mainstay of treatment used to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy agents are either given as an intravenous drip into a vein or a central line or given in shots under the skin (subcutaneously) or as oral medications on a regular basis or in a pattern of fixed chemotherapy cycles. In chemotherapy cycles, a certain number of days of treatment are followed by days of rest to allow the body to recover. The chemicals kill leukemia cells or stop them from dividing. Often, a combination of chemotherapy agents is used to treat cancer.
The length of time for treatment can vary by regimen ranging from six months to indefinite treatment. These include drugs such as:
2. Targeted therapy
With targeted therapy, drugs are given against a cancer cell-specific target. These targets of drugs are generally not present in normal dividing cells of our body. In this way, adverse effects of drug treatment on normal cells can be avoided. Examples of targeted therapy include:
These therapies are generally expensive but more specific in their action.
3. Immunotherapy
As the name suggests, immunotherapy works by helping the immune system work to fight cancer cells. This therapy uses substances that activate the body's immune system to work against the cancer cells. Common examples are:
4. Radiation therapy
This therapy uses radiation (high-energy rays similar to X-rays) to kill the cancer cells. This treatment uses strong beams of energy to kill the focus present in the body forming cancer cells (lymph nodes) blood cancer cells or stopping them from growing. Radiation is directed to exact sites in your body where there is a collection of cancer cells or can be given over your whole body as part of a hematopoietic cell transplant.
This therapy can also be used along with other treatment modalities such as chemotherapy and surgery.
5. Stem cell transplant
Also known as hematopoietic stem cell transplant or bone marrow transplant, this procedure replaces the cancerous blood-forming cells with new, healthy hematopoietic cells. These healthy cells are taken from the patient itself (before exposure to chemotherapy or radiation therapy) or from a donor’s blood or bone marrow and are infused into the patient's blood. Healthy hematopoietic cells grow and multiply forming new bone marrow and blood cells that develop into all the different types of cells your body needs (red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets).
6. Supportive care
Supportive care is required for patients to help stimulate the production of blood cells, combat infections, and manage side effects such as nausea and vomiting.
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Antiemetic drugs such as ondansetron and palonosetron provide relief from nausea and vomiting.
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Recombinant human erythropoietin alpha preparations help produce red blood cells and help treat anemia due to blood cancer or post-chemotherapy.
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Various antibiotics and antiviral medications are used to prevent and treat infections.
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7. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell treatment
This is a new form of therapy where the patient’s own T-lymphocyte cells are harvested and engineered in the laboratory to make them capable of fighting the blood cancer cells. These cells are then reinserted into the body.
Note: A treatment plan will be developed specifically for you. Several of the treatment methods described above will be a part of your treatment plan. Your treatment depends on your age, overall health, type of blood cancer and other unique features of the blood cancer, response to initial treatment, and many other factors. Your doctor (oncologist) will determine a treatment plan they think will be most successful for you.
