New Blood cancer Treatments introduced for a better treatment approach

Out of the 1.5 million cancer cases, about 70,000-80,000 cases are of blood cancer in India. The cancer burden is increasing every year in India due to the exploding population, lifestyle choices, and several other factors. Worldwide the number of blood cancer patients diagnosed with the disease each year is at 900000, and it too is only getting higher. However, there is a reason to rejoice for blood cancer patients, the constant advancements in blood cancer treatment.

Blood cancer statistics by its subtypes

Primarily there are three types of blood cancer, lymphoma, leukemia, and myeloma. According to cancer specialists, in India, lymphoma accounts for 64% of blood cancer cases; while leukemia accounts for 25% & myeloma for 11%.  

Before we go deeper into the statistics, it is important to note:

There are two types of lymphoma

·       Hodgkin’s lymphoma

·       Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

There are primarily fours types of leukemia

·       Acute lymphocytic leukemia

·       Acute myeloid leukemia

·       Chronic lymphocytic leukemia

·       Chronic myeloid leukemia. 

There is a long list of myelomas.

Why is this important to note? Simply because the incidence rates vary with the types of blood cancer & so do the treatment plans. 

About those numbers; according to a 2012 report, the incidence of Hodgkin’s lymphoma in Indian males was 5,677 per 100,000 and 2,938 per 100,000 in Indian females. For non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the age-adjusted incidence rates in men and women in India are 2.9/100,000 and 1.5/100,000.

Annually there are more than 10,000 cases of childhood leukemia in India. AML is the most common type of leukemia, with an incidence rate of 20% in children and 80% in adults with leukemia.

About 16,000 new cases of multiple myeloma are detected in India every year.

By far, blood cancer has gripped India in the same way it has gripped the world; however, the awareness of the same is limited. So, if you got diagnosed with a type of blood cancer, there is no need to panic. It is more common than you think. Studying up about the treatment options and the incidence rates can give you hope; while consulting an expert oncologist like Dr. Manish Singhal, one of the best cancer doctors in Delhi NCR, can bring the most advanced treatment options accessible to you.

Let’s dive into the new treatment approaches of blood cancer.

The most effective & advanced treatments of blood cancer

·   Stem Cell Transplant

Stem cell transplantation is common in blood cancer patients. However, the toxins used in stem cell transplantation are proven to cause irreversible and sometimes genetic damage in patients. To avoid that, a much more selective delivery is being opted by cancer specialists these days.

Also, using UM171, a revolutionary molecule discovered in 2014 and approved after clinical trials a few years later, the mortality rate & graft rejection has been controlled to a great extent, increasing the life expectancy of acute blood cancer patients.

·   Targeted Therapy

Different types of blood cancer are treated with targeted therapy. According to cancer specialists, targeted therapy is being preferred more and more by some of the best blood cancer doctors because they can eliminate the cancer cells without harming healthy cells.

Besponsa is a tried and tested approved targeted therapy drug used in Relapsed or refractory B-cell ALL which is used in combination with stem cell transplant and has shown promise through a complete response of 35.8% which was previously at 17.4% with standard therapy.

In a new treatment approach for myeloproliferative neoplasms, researchers and some top cancer specialists are looking to inhibit alpha5beta1 integrin, a specific protein, to decrease the number of large bone marrow cells.

New treatment for leukemia, cancer that is becoming more and more prevalent with passing time, is also being developed through targeted therapies.

·   Immunotherapy

Revolutionary things are happening in using the body’s defense mechanism against the festering of cancer. Right now, CAR-T therapy is approved for large B-cell lymphoma and ALL. However, with passing time and more research, cancer specialists are hoping to see CAR-T therapy as an option for other types of blood cancer. Also, “off-the-shelf immunotherapy” is being widely researched. 

A top immunotherapy drug is Lenalidomide (Revlimid) used along with transplant and have successfully brought down the mortality rates by 25% when compared to placebo or observation. Then there are blinatumomab (Blincyto), elotuzumab (Empliciti), and ixazomib (Ninlaro). The choice of treatment remains with the blood cancer doctor & the blood cancer patients under his/her treatment.

·   Chemotherapy

Precision medicine is already being used to ensure that as less chemotherapy is administered as possible. But, chemotherapy itself is also being revolutionized to create less invasive drugs or drug combos. It is also being used in combination with targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and even stem cell transplantation.

A new advancement can be seen in Daunorubicin and cytarabine liposome for injection or Vyxeos in short. In simpler words, Vyxeos is a fixed-combination of the chemotherapy drugs daunorubicin and cytarabine. It is given for newly diagnosed therapy-related AML (t-AML) and AML with myelodysplasia-related changes (AML-MRC). It was observed that blood cancer patients treated with Vyxeos showed improved survival compared with patients who received separate treatments of daunorubicin and cytarabine.

The epilogue

All these scientific improvements have no meaning if the blood cancer patients do not have access to these treatments. That is why experienced oncologists like Dr. Manish Singhal, a top cancer specialist in Delhi NCR and Noida, who is also known as the best blood cancer doctor in Noida and Delhi, are trying to bring all these advancements to the forefront. That is why, whether you need access to the best and most advanced treatments in blood cancer or just need some queries answered, you can and should always seek to consult a blood cancer doctor with expertise and awareness of the new advancements like Dr. Manish Singhal.