Alberts Cellular Therapy

29/02/2024

Support or start virtual drives and save lives.

Every new registrant could be a patient's match.

Set up a virtual donor drive to help DKMS in their mission to register more potential blood stem cell donors. You can set up a virtual drive at your workplace, sports club, university or just to share with your personal network.

Why DKMS needs your support:

-Every 27 seconds someone in the world is diagnosed with blood cancer or blood disorder.
-4 out of 10 people looking for an unrelated matching donor worldwide are not able to find a match. But you can help us change this.

Numbers behind the work:

-To date, DKMS has registered over 11 million potential blood stem cell donors worldwide.
-Stem cell transplants are a potentially life-saving treatment for more than 70 different diseases.
-So far, over 100,000 second chances of life have been provided by DKMS.
-DKMS does an average of 21 collections a day.

https://www.dkms-africa.org/get-involved/virtual-drives

Set up a virtual donor drive to help us in our mission to regitser more potential blood stem cell donors.

27/02/2024

Receiving the news that their child has been diagnosed with cancer is devastating for any parent, but this is even worse when they hear that, after 18 months of remission, their little one will need to battle the disease all over again.

Read the full story by clicking on the link below:
https://www.dkms-africa.org/press/conquering-childhood-blood-cancer-how-you-can-help

Register at https://www.dkms-africa.org/register-now . Registration is entirely free and takes less than five minutes.

For further information, get in touch with DKMS Africa at 0800 12 10 82.

Receiving the news that their child has been diagnosed with cancer is devastating for any parent.

22/02/2024

hronic lymphocytic leukaemia

Dr Gem E. George-Tharakan educates us on chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and why targeted therapy is the optimal treatment.

Diagnosis
A full blood count shows an increase in the total white cell count and/or a raised absolute lymphocyte count of greater than 5.0 X 109/L. The blood smear made on a slide when reviewed shows an increase in normal-looking lymphocytes. In some patients, a reduction in the red cells and platelets may also be seen due to immunological complications of the condition, or due to disease burden.

Certain biochemical tests may also show abnormalities; however, this isn’t always the case. During the follow-up of this condition, these tests are also routinely performed. Screening for viral infections also needs to be done to prevent reactivation during therapy.

The gold-standard for the diagnosis is a special molecular test known as flow cytometry. This test helps distinguish normal B lymphocytes from malignant B lymphocytes through the preferential expression of abnormal markers on the B lymphocytes. Part of the work-up may include a bone marrow biopsy and further molecular and genetic testing. This helps determine the disease burden and assists in the prognosis of the condition and helps to determine possible treatment options.

Read full article below:
https://oncologybuddies.com/.../chronic-lymphocytic...

Dr Gem E. George-Tharakan educates us on chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and why targeted therapy is the optimal treatment.

19/02/2024

Causes of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML)

In most cases the causes of AML remain largely unknown, but it is thought to result from damage to one or more of the genes that normally control blood cell development. Research is going on all the time into finding possible causes.

18/02/2024

15/02/2024

Treating Leukaemia:

Targeted Therapy part 2 ...

The treatment of leukaemias and lymphomas has evolved significantly over the last few decades.

Previously, treatment for these diseases consisted of a variety of chemotherapy agents, given alone or in combination.

More recently, new drugs with specific targets in or on the surface of cancer cells have been identified.

These “targeted therapies” are now a mainstay of treatment for leukaemias and lymphomas.

Targeted cancer therapies are agents that block the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific molecules involved in tumour growth and division.

Targeted therapies can cause cancer cell death directly by inducing apoptosis, or indirectly by stimulating the immune system to recognize and kill cancer cells.

In addition, targeted therapies can be conjugated so they can deliver toxic substances to the cancer cell.

Some of these new targeted therapies include monoclonal antibodies, and other major categories of agents that impede cell growth: inhibitors of tyrosine kinase, of histone deacetylase (HDAC), of proteasomes, and of hypermethylation.

12/02/2024

Treating Leukaemia continues:

let's discuss Targeted therapy...

The treatment of malignancies now includes therapies that target various components of the malignant cells.
The targeted therapies used to treat leukaemias and lymphomas include monoclonal antibodies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, histone deacetylase inhibitors, hypermethylation inhibitors, and proteasome inhibitors.

While each of the drugs in each class of agents has similar toxicities, some of the agents within the classes may have unique side effects. For example, the monoclonal antibodies can each cause an infusion reaction, but rarely, rituximab (Rituxan) can reactivate hepatitis B, an effect that has not been noted with other monoclonal antibodies.

Nurses need to be aware of the potential side effects of each of the agents in order to manage the toxicities and educate patients about actions they can take to minimize their risk of the side effects.

31/01/2024

Treating Leukaemia

Discussing Chemotherapy, part 4:

How chemotherapy is given:

Chemotherapy may be given in many ways. Some common ways include:

- oral: comes in pills, capsules, or liquids that you swallow
- intravenous (IV): goes directly into a vein
- injection: given by a shot in a muscle in your arm, thigh, or hip, or right under the skin in the fatty part of your arm, leg, or belly
- intrathecal: injected into the space between the layers of tissue that cover the brain and spinal cord
- intraperitoneal (IP): goes directly into the peritoneal cavity, which is the area in your body that contains organs such as your intestines, stomach, and liver
- intra-arterial (IA): injected directly into the artery that leads to the cancer
- topical: comes in a cream that you rub onto your skin

Of all the methods mentioned above, chemotherapy is most often given with an IV, through a thin needle that is placed in a vein on your hand or lower arm. Your nurse will put the needle in at the start of each treatment and remove it when treatment is over. IV chemotherapy may also be given through catheters or ports, sometimes with the help of a pump.

29/01/2024

Treating Leukaemia:

Discussing Chemotherapy, part 3:

Chemotherapy can cause side effects.

Chemotherapy not only kills fast-growing cancer cells, but also kills or slows the growth of healthy cells that grow and divide quickly.
Examples are cells that line your mouth and intestines and those that cause your hair to grow.
Damage to healthy cells may cause side effects, such as mouth sores, nausea, and hair loss.
Side effects often get better or go away after you have finished chemotherapy.

The most common side effect is fatigue, which is feeling exhausted and worn out. You can prepare for fatigue by:

- asking someone to drive you to and from chemotherapy
- planning time to rest on the day of and day after chemotherapy
- asking for help with meals and childcare on the day of and at least one day after chemotherapy
There are many ways you can help manage chemotherapy side effects.

27/01/2024

Treating Leukaemia:

Discussing Chemotherapy, part 2:

Chemotherapy may be given with a curative intent (which almost always involves combinations of drugs) or it may aim to prolong life or to reduce symptoms (palliative chemotherapy).
Chemotherapy is one of the major categories of the medical discipline specifically devoted to pharmacotherapy for cancer, which is called medical oncology.

26/01/2024

Treating Leukaemia:

Discussing Chemotherapy,

Chemotherapy is the major form of treatment for leukaemia. This drug treatment uses chemicals to kill leukaemia cells.

Depending on the type of leukaemia you have, you may receive a single drug or a combination of drugs. These drugs may come in a pill form, or they may be injected directly into a vein.