Late diagnosis, high costs driving blood and bone marrow cancer cases: Experts

Late diagnoses and high costs are driving cases of acute myeloid leukaemia AML an aggressive form of blood and bone marrow cancer said health expertsAfter the US and China India reportedly had the highest number of cases of AML in 2021According to health experts early screening accurate diagnosis and timely initiation of treatment are extremely important to improve survival ratesldquoWe lose critical time because AML is detected late in our country and often masquerades as fatigue or infection By the time the right tests are done the disease has often progressed to a stage where treatment options are limited or less effectiverdquo Dr Ranjit Sahoo DM Medical Oncology Professor Additional at All India Institute of Medical Sciences AIIMS told IANSWhile acute leukaemia can be detected by a simple blood test ldquothe treatment of AML is carried out at tertiary centres and the cost of supportive treatment is highrdquo the expert saidFor many patients the onset is silent the symptoms of AML are vague and the window for intervention is tragically narrowMany patients also delay treatment due to financial constraints or seek care in late stages when treatment is less effectiveldquoAML while rare among all haematological malignancies is the most feared one It has an excellent chemotherapy combination for control of disease including deep remission control not cure but is fraught with complications including lifethreatening ones due to severe infections and bone marrow suppressionrdquo said Dr Abhay A Bhave a haematologist from a Mumbaibased hospitalBhave noted that ldquoAML can be a relapsing relentless disease based on the genes that cause this diseaserdquoTraditional chemotherapy the mainstay of AML treatment has often been poorly tolerated especially in older patients However the emergence of targeted therapies which act on specific genetic mutations driving the disease has dramatically improved remission rates reduced toxicity and enhanced quality of life for patients globallyHowever these are often expensive and bone marrow transplantation is also not easy to obtain the doctors saidDr Punit L Jain a leukaemia specialist at a Mumbaibased hospital stated that 60 per cent of AML patients arrive in advanced stages with infection and bleeding impairing treatment methodsThe experts suggested integrating AML into the national cancer control strategy and expanding access to diagnostics may be necessary to boost awareness as well as treatment outcomes They also called for including AMLtargeted therapies in Ayushman Bharat and private insurance schemes to ease outofpocket expenditure for patients and to support clinical research and trialsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever