Hematology

• Acute leukemias: tumors of the hematopoietic system that present with rapid growth of immature cells and require immediate life-saving therapy, usually with admission to the inpatient ward.
• Chronic leukemias: tumors of the hematopoietic system with slower growth, including chronic lymphatic leukemia, which is the most common leukemia in elderly patients. Very innovative therapies, often in oral form, have been introduced in the treatment of these tumors in recent years.
• Lymphomas: tumors affecting the lymphatic system, which includes the lymph nodes ("the glands") and lymphocytes in the blood. The purpose of the lymphatic system is to protect the person from disease and infection, but it has the risk of tumor transformation requiring therapy.
• Multiple myeloma: cancer that affects a particular type of bone marrow cells: plasma cells. These are cells of the immune system that are responsible for producing antibodies. Patients with possible early stages (monoclonal gammopathy, asymptomatic myeloma) that do not require treatment are followed, and modern treatment is offered for patients with symptoms related to symptomatic myeloma.
• Amyloidosis: a rare disease in which proteins that have taken on an abnormal configuration form amyloid fibrils that accumulate in various tissues and organs, sometimes causing dysfunction, organ failure, and death of the subject.
• Myelodysplastic neoplasms: tumors of the hematopoietic system that often manifest as a reduction of cells in the peripheral blood and are associated with symptoms such as fatigue, bruising, or recurrent infections.
• Myeloproliferative neoplasms: tumors of the hematopoietic system that often present with increased values in the peripheral blood and a high risk of thrombosis.
• Clotting disorders: dysfunctions in the body's ability to control the formation of blood clots. They can result in insufficient clotting, leading to abnormal bleeding (hemorrhage) or excessive clotting, causing blood clots to form (thrombosis).
• Blood cell disorders: peripheral blood disorders, such as anemia and thrombocytopenias (thrombocytopenias).

Blood cancers

Hematology cares for people with blood diseases, both cancerous and non-cancerous. Blood cancers are a broad category of neoplasms that account for about 10% of cancers diagnosed each year. Nowadays, treatment for patients with hematologic diseases is highly targeted and personalized.

Diagnosis

The diagnostic process is done through the clinic's hematology laboratory, which analyzes blood by integrating all available techniques to arrive at an integrated diagnostic.

Treatments

• Chemotherapy: administration of medicines that aim to destroy cancer cells in the body, wherever they are found.
• Targeted therapies (targeted therapies): thanks to the development of research, in recent years there are several therapies available that are targeted toward certain genetic alterations or intracellular proteins that are responsible for tumor growth but absent in healthy cells.
• Immunological therapies: therapy by which the patient's immune system is stimulated to fight the tumor.
• Therapies for disorders of thrombosis or bleeding: these diseases are treated with anticoagulants or by replacing missing clotting factors. For people treated with anticoagulants of the Sintrom or Marcoumar type, courses are offered to learn self-monitoring of the intensity of this anticoagulation at home. Hematology also offers counseling for the management of patients with coagulation problems who require surgery. For patients with chronic coagulation diseases, joint care is offered in close collaboration with the attending physician.
• Cell therapies: autologous transplantation, allogeneic transplantation (in collaboration with Basel University Hospital), CAR-T, stem cell apheresis or lymphocytes,and extracorporeal photopheresis.
  >>Moreinformation (PDF)
• Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplants: administration of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy at supra-maximal intensity (called "conditioning") followed by reinfusion of the patient's own cells collected and frozen prior to therapy.
• "CAR-T" cell therapies, Chimeric Antigen Receptor: following chemotherapy, reinfusion of T lymphocytes previously harvested from the patient and genetically modified in the laboratory is performed to enhance their action against the tumor. Follow-up to patients who have undergone allogeneic (i.e., from a donor) stem cell transplantation is offered in close collaboration with the University Hospital of Basel, where the treatment itself is performed. Read more about the program dedicated to stem cell transplantation: cell therapies program (PDF).
• Radio-oncology: radiotherapy uses high-energy ionizing radiation to "destroy" cancer cells while trying to safeguard surrounding healthy tissues and organs; this therapy may possibly be combined with hyperthermia.