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Advanced method to treat common blood cancer in children: The Hindu
Chennai, Feb 09: A new, advanced protocol for treatment of a common blood cancer in children - Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) - will soon replace a 20-year-old practice in the country.
Chennai, Feb 09: A new, advanced protocol for treatment of a common blood cancer in children - Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) - will soon replace a 20-year-old practice in the country.
The protocol, called the International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research-04 (INCTR-04), will increase drug dosage and minimise radiation therapy so as to increase survival rates and reduce the negative effects of radiation, T.G. Sagar, Chairman, Medical Oncology Division, Cancer Institute, said at a press conference today.
The protocol is awaiting approval from the Indian Council for Medical Research and will initially be implemented in the Cancer Institute, Chennai, the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, and the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi.
It will eventually phase out the existing protocol in smaller centres too, Anita Chandra, Assistant Professor, Medical Oncology Division, Cancer Institute, said.
ALL accounts for over 30 per cent of all childhood cancers and 75 per cent of all blood cancers in children.
In the 1970s, the survival rate from treatment of this condition was a mere 20 per cent. In 1983, the Cancer Institute developed a more successful multi-centre intensive (MCI) protocol for treatment of ALL, in an Indo-U.S. collaboration led by Ian Magrath, then head of Paediatric Oncology, National Cancer Institute, United States.
The protocol, which involves a 30-month treatment period and a follow-up running up to 10 years, is followed uniformly in the country.
Only about 10 hospitals, including the Cancer Institute, the Tata Memorial Hospital and the AIIMS, offer treatment for ALL, as the protocol demands extensive infrastructure and costs. (In many cases, the treatment cost of Rs.1.5 lakh has to be absorbed by the hospitals, Dr.Sagar said.)
A note of concern, however, is that the MCI protocol in India has had a success rate of only 50 per cent, though it has done better in Western countries.
Doctors have found that the leukaemia variant in India is of a lineage called the T-cell ALL, whereas the common variant in other countries is the B-cell ALL, a lineage more responsive to treatment. They have also found that ``the T-cell ALL in India shows a very clear bias towards lower socio-economic groups.``
The new protocol will be more India-centric and attempt to iron out the negative aspects of the existing protocol.
Doctors hope it will result in a higher success rate and offer survivors a better quality of life.
Many survivors from the past 20 years are leading normal lives, but the new protocol, with a lower radiation dose, could offer better results, doctors said.
Even as the new protocol is rolled out in the three major hospitals, about 10 other smaller centres will be trained in the existing one.
On Monday and Tuesday, over 150 cancer specialists from India and scientists from the U.S., Belgium, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and China will participate in a review-cum-workshop on the MCI protocol. Organised by the Cancer Institute and the International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research, now headed by Dr.Magrath, the workshop aims to build capacities of smaller hospitals so they can provide treatment for ALL under the existing protocol.
In the first major review since the protocol was started in 1983, the participants will get to investigate its positive and negative aspects.
Dr.Magrath, who is in Chennai for the workshop, said the exercise was aimed at offering treatment for ALL to more children at lower costs.
Bureau Report
In the 1970s, the survival rate from treatment of this condition was a mere 20 per cent. In 1983, the Cancer Institute developed a more successful multi-centre intensive (MCI) protocol for treatment of ALL, in an Indo-U.S. collaboration led by Ian Magrath, then head of Paediatric Oncology, National Cancer Institute, United States.
The protocol, which involves a 30-month treatment period and a follow-up running up to 10 years, is followed uniformly in the country.
Only about 10 hospitals, including the Cancer Institute, the Tata Memorial Hospital and the AIIMS, offer treatment for ALL, as the protocol demands extensive infrastructure and costs. (In many cases, the treatment cost of Rs.1.5 lakh has to be absorbed by the hospitals, Dr.Sagar said.)
A note of concern, however, is that the MCI protocol in India has had a success rate of only 50 per cent, though it has done better in Western countries.
Doctors have found that the leukaemia variant in India is of a lineage called the T-cell ALL, whereas the common variant in other countries is the B-cell ALL, a lineage more responsive to treatment. They have also found that ``the T-cell ALL in India shows a very clear bias towards lower socio-economic groups.``
The new protocol will be more India-centric and attempt to iron out the negative aspects of the existing protocol.
Doctors hope it will result in a higher success rate and offer survivors a better quality of life.
Many survivors from the past 20 years are leading normal lives, but the new protocol, with a lower radiation dose, could offer better results, doctors said.
Even as the new protocol is rolled out in the three major hospitals, about 10 other smaller centres will be trained in the existing one.
On Monday and Tuesday, over 150 cancer specialists from India and scientists from the U.S., Belgium, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and China will participate in a review-cum-workshop on the MCI protocol. Organised by the Cancer Institute and the International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research, now headed by Dr.Magrath, the workshop aims to build capacities of smaller hospitals so they can provide treatment for ALL under the existing protocol.
In the first major review since the protocol was started in 1983, the participants will get to investigate its positive and negative aspects.
Dr.Magrath, who is in Chennai for the workshop, said the exercise was aimed at offering treatment for ALL to more children at lower costs.
Bureau Report