New Delhi World Leukaemia Day: Blood cancer cells can travel from the bloodstream to the brain and cause severe neurological problems, including visual blurring, abnormal facial twitching, and numbness, experts said on Wednesday, World Leukaemia Day.
World Leukaemia Day is observed every year on September 4 to raise awareness about the disease.
Symptoms, types and treatment
Leukaemia is a broad term for cancers of the blood cells. It occurs when the bone marrow produces abnormal blood cells—blasts or leukaemia cells. The disease affects the production of normal blood cells, which are essential for fighting infections, carrying oxygen, and clotting blood.
Leukaemia occurs most often in adults older than 55, but it is also the most common cancer in children younger than 15.
“Leukaemia can impact a person in terms of neurological symptoms in multiple ways. It can cause neurological symptoms by direct invasion of the central nervous system (CNS) or by indirect manifestations caused by coagulation abnormalities, increased clotting, or immune manifestations,” Dr Praveen Gupta, Principal Director & Chief of Neurology, Fortis Hospital, told IANS.
The symptoms can include headaches, vomiting, fever, double vision or visual blurring, facial paresthesia, abnormal facial twitching, numbness, and weakness in the hands and legs.
“In addition, leukaemia-related inflammation can disrupt the blood-brain barrier, worsening neurological outcomes. Whenever there is a CNS impact in leukaemia, it confers a worse prognosis and requires emergent treatment,” Gupta added.
According to the recently published Globocan 2022 report, leukaemia is the most common type of blood cancer in India and has an incidence rate of 49,883 annual cases. It stated that the main challenge blood cancer patients face is the lack of potential blood stem cell donors in India.
Ranjit Kumar Sahoo, a Medical Oncologist at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, told IANS that “Leukemias are curable.” There are mainly two types: acute and chronic.
“Chronic leukaemias do not require immediate treatment; for example, CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukaemia) and a fraction do not require treatment at all. It is completely controlled with a near-normal life in CML (chronic myeloid leukaemia).
“Acute leukaemias are aggressive and require urgent physician attention. They are curable with chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy. A fraction might require BMT (Blood and/or Marrow Transplantation),” the expert said.
Gupta said the treatment is emergent and involves immunomodulation, transplantation, medication to prevent seizures, or controlling the pressure in the brain.
“Often, early intervention and aggressive management can significantly improve outcomes in these cases,” the doctor said.
Sahoo said that while the role of nutrition in “the pathogenesis of leukaemia is relevant yet unclear, “the diet during treatment should be healthy and simple, in small amounts and frequent manner.”
For more updates Subscribe to Media Eye News
