Successfully treating leukaemia

According to Dr Jackie Thomson, a clinical haematologist who heads up the Alberts Cellular Therapy unit at the Netcare Pretoria East Hospital, the survival rate for acute lymphocytic leukaemia - the most common childhood cancer - has improved from 3% to approximately 90% over the last 40 years, when treated at centres that provide the appropriate highly specialised treatment.

Dr Thomson, speaking during the Bone Marrow Donation and Leukaemia Awareness period that ran from 15 August to 15 October, each leukaemia case is unique, as is the prognosis for each patient but with the necessary technology and care, patients can actually be cured.

"New drugs and treatments are now available to fight the disease. For example, gene testing enables us to target our treatment and determine the most appropriate treatment protocols. Bone marrow transplantation, which helps remove cancer cells from a patient's system, is usually used as part of the treatment protocol in leukaemia cases."

The Alberts Cellular Therapy unit specialises in bone marrow transplantation, which does more marrow transplants yearly than at any other centre on the African continent. Dr Thomson notes that the world class unit with its state-of-the-art equipment has recently been inspected by the JACIE, the Joint Accreditation Committee, founded by the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EMBT) and the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT), and that only a few minor matters need to be addressed for the unit to obtain accreditation.

"The first successful human bone marrow transplants were performed in the 1960s. Unfortunately the success rate was not so good. Significant advances have been made since then and bone marrow transplantation has truly become a life-saving procedure."

Dr Thomson says some patients and even doctors believe that the bone marrow transplant procedure is still very dangerous. However, centres that specialise in the treatment of leukaemia and other blood disorders, such as this unit, achieve good outcomes.

Haemopoitic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of blood stem cells from blood or bone marrow in the case of bone marrow transplantation. HSCT is used to treat a range of blood disorders, lymph cancers and metabolic disorders. Besides leukaemia, conditions that can be treated include sickle-cell disease, myelodysplastic syndrome, Ewing's Sarcoma, Hodgkin's disease and others.

Head of Oncology at Netcare, Noeleen Phillipson, says while the word 'leukaemia' continues to inspire fear in most people, it is in fact a treatable disease today. The latest technology and drugs, together with comprehensive people-centric care such as provided at the group's oncology facilities, offer new hope to patients who suffer from the disease.

"Leukaemia treatment centres such as Netcare Pretoria East Hospital and the Alberts Cellular Therapy unit are critical investments in the fight against cancer," Phillipson concludes.