Patient with rare disease treated at Kozhikode hospital

She was diagnosed with primary plasma cell leukemia

A 47-year-old person suffering from primary plasma cell leukemia, a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer, was cured through treatment at Meitra Hospital, Kozhikode, recently.

According to a release from the hospital, the patient was initially diagnosed for low platelet count and overall fatigue at another hospital. She was confirmed to have been suffering from primary plasma cell leukemia after undergoing diagnostic tests and was referred to the Myeloma Clinic under Centre of Excellence for Blood Diseases, Bone Marrow Transplant and Cancer Immunotherapy at Meitra Hospital.

Primary plasma cell leukaemia, known to be a sub-type of multiple myeloma, occurs when the cancerous plasma cells within the bone marrow spread to the blood. It is a rare type and is aggressive than multiple myeloma. It occurs when the onset of developing cancer is in its original form instead of spreading to the blood from any other type of cancer. The patient was initially treated with anti-plasma cell therapy, followed by bone marrow transplant and was discharged after recovering from the treatment, the release said.

Ragesh Radhakrishnan Nair, Director, Hemato-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, Meitra Hospital, said, “Globally, we see only about four cases among one crore patients annually. That means, in India, the incidence might be around 400 cases in a year, mostly found in female patients. Owing to its aggressive nature, administering the right treatment at the right time is crucial.”