Can we cure blood cancer? This is a prime questio...

Can we cure blood cancer? This is a prime question asked by my patients who visit Lotus hospital once they have been diagnosed with this condition. I can understand that "cure" is always top of the mind and it is equally challenging to answer ! I always say that we all don't know what is in store for us tomorrow. basically blood cancer happens because of " Faulty" immune system which becomes incapable of recognizing "bad cancer " cells. chemotherapy is a common treatment we give to all our patients and many are cured with it. in childhood blood cancer almost 90% of patients are cured. Beyond 12 years the chances decline progressively as we age. children also tolerate chemotherapy better than adults. At Lotus hospital we also perform Bone marrow transplant since 2012. Patients in whom the cancer comes back, we can always cure them by stem cell (bone marrow ) transplant. Bone marrow transplant is also curative for various diseases like Thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, aplastic anemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma. In adults with blood cancer the situation is different. the Cure rate is approximately 50% only. as we are getting better at hitting the cancer cells harder I am sure we will increase the cure rate in future. In next episode I will tell you about other forms of blood cancer which can be cured by tablets? yes No chemotherapy! thanks you for reading. Have a great day today. Dr Pritesh Junagade