Leukemia, also known as blood cancer, is one of the malignant tumors of the blood system. The frequent news of leukemia relief in the press has greatly increased the visibility of this disease, and in the eyes of the public, leukemia is just like a life charm. Once you have leukemia, it means losing your family’s money, it means losing your life, it means being hopeless. In fact, is this really the case?
Leukemia is not incurable, is it?
Leukemia is not incurable and is 70% effective in treatment. Leukemia has become a synonym for “terminal illness” in the eyes of the people. There are news reports that each year an average of 16,000 children under 15 years of age develop leukemia in China, but the ratio of annual incidence of leukemia to the number of treatments is 16,000:1000, which means that less than 10% of patients come to treatment after getting leukemia. The incidence of leukemia in China is about 2.7/100,000, but in the minds of many people, leukemia is incurable, which is one of the major reasons why they are so desperate when they hear about leukemia. Many people have decided to give up treatment when they get a leukemia diagnosis, but this notion is extremely harmful.
The best treatment for acute myeloid M3 leukemia can have a cure rate of 70%-90% or more, while the less effective types such as AML-M5 and M4 have a cure rate of 30%-40%. As with many malignancies, such as lung cancer and liver cancer, leukemia is not only relatively simple to treat, but also more effective and has a higher long-term survival rate.
Specific treatment modalities of leukemia What is the current treatment modality of leukemia?
Specifically, leukemia is divided into acute leukemia and chronic leukemia. Acute leukemia has a rapid onset and a short course. Chronic leukemia has a slow course. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia predominates in pediatrics, accounting for more than 75% of pediatric leukemia; acute non-lymphocytic leukemia accounts for about 20-25%; and chronic accounts for only about 3-5%.
As for the focus of media attention such as “bone marrow transplantation” and “hematopoietic stem cell transplantation” that often appear in the news, in fact, not many bone marrow transplants and hematopoietic stem cell transplants are done in China at present. –In fact, there are not many bone marrow transplants and HSCTs being done in China, with the volume of a large tertiary hospital being around 50 – 100 operations per year, which is a small number compared to the patient base. Because of the difficulty in matching and the limited bone marrow bank on the one hand, and the high cost of transplantation on the other, not all families can afford it, the overall success rate is 60%. In addition to “transplantation”, patients are more often treated with chemotherapy, retinoic acid, arsenic and other treatments. For example, the best treatment effect of acute myeloid M3 leukemia can reach up to 70% to 90%, while patients with poor family conditions can also be treated with alternate treatments of retinoic acid, arsenic and chemotherapy to ensure the efficacy of treatment, while reducing the cost of treatment and family burden.
Excessive treatment costs cause people to give up treatment So what is the cost of leukemia treatment? Currently there are fewer people with leukemia, partly because of the perceived problem of leukemia, and partly because the cost of leukemia treatment has remained high and there are few drugs available for patients to choose from. This is daunting for many families. Some patients have very good results after phase I chemotherapy, but have no choice but to withdraw from the course of treatment due to financial constraints.
Currently, for bone marrow transplantation and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the cost for one session without other serious complications is around $200,000-$300,000, while if serious complications occur during the transplant, the cost may exceed $400,000. For the more curable types of leukemia such as acute myeloid M3 leukemia, the relatively less expensive “arsenical therapy” can be used, with a total treatment cost of about 100,000 yuan for three years, and still achieve long-term survival and improve quality of life. If the patient’s leukemia is slow lymphoid leukemia, the survival rate will be even higher, in the absence of the onset of the disease, even without medical treatment, only when there are obvious symptoms, such as large liver and spleen, low blood count, etc., the need for treatment, and the effect of treatment can be, some patients can study and work normally, no different from normal people.
The treatment effect of leukemia is actually very good, far better than other malignant tumors such as cancer. In the case of economic conditions, it is important to distinguish the categories and seek medical treatment on the basis of evidence, and never give up hope of survival.