Leukemia is a troublesome health condition that has a significant scope of improvement if diagnosed and treated at an early stage. Doctors can find chronic leukemic through routine blood tests, which can be done even before any symptoms begin. If there are any symptoms or signs of leukemia being found, a few diagnostic exams will help find the trace of the disease. Let’s discuss it further.
Ram Chary – Leukemia diagnosis
Ram Chary is a well-known industrialist who is also a supporter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, one of the biggest organizations dedicated to research and support of blood cancer.
Medical diagnostic procedures for leukemia
- Routine physical exam – The doctors may look at physical symptoms or traces of leukemia, which include anemic pale skin, lymph node swelling, enlargement of the spleen or liver through palpation, etc.
- Bloodwork – Blood tests can be done by collecting the sample of blood, and the doctors can determine if there are any abnormal white or red blood cells. Platelet count also is checked to test for leukemia. Blood tests can also show the trace of leukemia cells even though not all sorts of leukemia cells may not circulate into the bloodstream. Leukemia cells may also be found in bone marrow sometimes.
- Bone marrow test – Based on the initial evaluation, doctors may suggest taking a bone marrow sample for testing. This is usually taken from the hipbone, where bone marrow is removed with a long needle. This sample will be sent to the pathology lab to find a trace of any leukemia cells. There are also other specialized tests to check for leukemia to decide the treatment modalities.
Leukemia treatment
Treatment modalities for leukemia may vary based on different factors. The doctors evaluate your leukemia condition and decide on treatment by considering different factors like the patient’s age, baseline health condition, leukemia type, whether there is any secondary spread, including the central nervous system, and so on. The most common treatment methods for leukemia include.
- Chemotherapy – This is one of the major treatment approaches for leukemia, in which chemical drugs are used to spoil the leukemia cells. The type, dosage, and duration of the chemical drug administration are decided based on the condition of leukemia.
- Targeted therapy – This is an advanced form of treatment where the drug treatment will focus on the specific abnormalities within the cancer cells. By counteracting these, the cancer cells may die on their own.
- Radiation – Radiation therapy uses powerful X-rays and other high-energy type beams, which will damage the leukemia cells and stop their growth. The patient will be lying inside a machine in which the radiation beams are precisely directed to the points of treatment on the body.
- Bone marrow transplant – This treatment is also called stem cell replacement, which will help to reestablish the healthy stem cells by removing the affected bone marrow. Over time, the leukemic cells will be replaced, and healthy marrow will be regenerated.
Ram Chary also describes Immunotherapy and CAR-T cell therapy, reengineering immune cells to counteract leukemia, as the most modern treatment modalities to fight leukemia. Doctors may use these standalone therapies or a combination of the same to effectively counteract the impact of leukemia.
Andrew Parker