A new blood cancer procedure has been launched at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, allowing patients to access the advanced treatment closer to home.
The apheresis treatment is now being used for patients diagnosed with Polycythemia rubra vera: a non-aggressive blood cancer where the bone marrow produces too many red blood cells.
Sunshine Coast Health director of haematology Professor Craig Wallington-Gates says the new procedure is more efficient than previous methods.
“Traditionally, we’d do a procedure known as venesection where a needle is inserted into a patient’s arm and through gravity, about 500ml of whole blood is removed and which reduces the number of red blood cells in the circulation,” he says.
“This is an advanced technique called apheresis, which means removing components of the blood from the circulation and, in this case, we’re removing red blood cells in a very direct manner.”
Professor Wallington-Gates says the treatment works incredibly quickly.
“This results in more fluid blood that’s not so thick and doesn’t clot easily and it’s an effective means of treating the patient’s bone marrow disorder,” he says.
