Study Shows Leukemia Treatment Involves Awareness Of Bone Marrow Donation
According to data from the National Cancer Institute , leukemia occupies the ninth position in the most common types of cancer in men and the 11th in women. The February Orange campaign aims to clarify the early diagnosis of leukemia and encourage bone marrow donation. “In Brazil, we have little donations, there are still a lot of barriers, a lot of ignorance, and that is why the Orange February Campaign is important”, says Geovanne Pedro Mauro, radiologist at the Institute of Radiology at the Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina from USP.
On how to diagnose leukemia, Mauro says that it hasn’t changed much in recent years, but the search is still for an earlier diagnosis, since, unlike some types of cancer, there is no way to screen for leukemia. “We have to wait for the patient to have the symptom, but also seek the medical service as soon as possible. In leukemia, these symptoms are very variable, it is not possible to point out exactly where it hurts. Typically, the patient becomes more tired, enlarges the spleen, liver and some symptoms related to bone marrow dysfunction. The growing leukemia makes the bone marrow stop working, so the patient becomes more anemic, he may have some symptoms such as purple spots all over the body, injuries that take longer to heal.”
With the presentation of these general symptoms, the first step is to ask for a CBC, which is the test responsible for counting blood cells. When analyzing the numbers, it is already possible to perceive signs of the disease: “The hemogram counts the blood cells, simple as that, so you see that there is a distortion in the numbers, for example, there are many more than one cell than it should be and the others are reduced or, sometimes, it happens that they are all reduced”, says Mauro. He adds: “The first step is always the blood count, but then we need to do other tests to diagnose leukemia, such as the myelogram, in which we take a little blood directly from the bone marrow, and the bone marrow biopsy , for us to confirm whether or not he has leukemia”.
Leukemia can have different classifications, depending on the cells that cause this disease. The expert lists the four main types of leukemia: chronic, when malignant cells are similar to normal cells; the acute, when they are very different, like cells without function; lymphoid, similar to lymphocytes; and myeloid, similar to other types of cells. “As science advances, the subtypes and possibilities of treatment increase”, comments the radiologist. But, even with these variations, usually, when the severity is high, bone marrow transplantation is used for curative purposes.
Donation
To make the donation, Mauro explains that the initiative is to look for a blood center, such as the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine of USP, which has a partnership with the Pró-Sangue Foundation . There, a blood test will be performed and the data will be stored in the donor bank for an eventual occasion, when compatibility is high. “First, the search takes place in the family, in the brothers, see if there is someone compatible. The closer, the greater the chance of the procedure working. We only go to the bank if no one in the family is a possible donor. If we don’t even find it at the bank, we can’t do the procedure”, explains the specialist. “Most times you put your name and you are never called, but if you are called, it can save a life”, he adds.
He also points out that it is a painful procedure only at the time of donation, but does not present risks for the donor, since the bone marrow is always being produced in healthy people: “It is a painful procedure at the time of donation, because we have to aspirating bone marrow from inside the patient’s bone, however, you are saving a life and, again, it is not a procedure that will put your life at risk, you are producing more, at any time you can donate again”.
One of the biggest problems is that, although Brazil, according to data from the National Registry of Volunteer Bone Marrow Donors (Redome) , is the third largest donor bank, many times the donors called do not respond or there is no compatible marrow. “For that patient being treated, it doesn’t matter if there are millions of marrows available, if you don’t have the one compatible with him. That’s why it’s always good to have as much diversity as possible”, says Mauro.