Check for overweight, discovered leukemia

Mr. Manh is 1.7 m tall, weighs 98.7 kg, has gout and high blood pressure, and came to Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for examination with a body mass index of 34.2 kg/m2, and is obese. Tests showed many abnormal indicators, including a 20-fold increase in white blood cell count, 206,000/mm3 of blood (normal 4,000 - 10,000/mm3 of blood).

According to Dr. Vo Tran Nguyen Duy, Center for Weight Control and Obesity Treatment, Mr. Manh's white blood cell count is abnormally high. This is a sign of leukemia that is progressing silently, with no typical symptoms in the early stages. The patient also has liver dysfunction, fatty liver, hyperuricemia, hypertension, and gout.

Bone marrow tests confirmed that Mr. Manh had acute myeloid leukemia, type M4. This is a dangerous form of blood cancer that develops rapidly and has the potential to invade other organs in the body.

"Acute leukemia can cause death within 3 months if not treated," said Dr. Nguyen Quoc Thanh, Head of the Clinical Hematology Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, adding that Mr. Manh's malignant cells are increasing exponentially every day.

The patient was hospitalized for intravenous fluids to dilute the blood, and medication to reduce the number of white blood cells, reduce the risk of thrombosis, and prevent the proliferation of malignant cells. The doctor identified and classified malignant blood cells, divided the risk groups, and selected the appropriate chemotherapy regimen. At the same time, a suitable HLA stem cell donor was found and a hematopoietic stem cell transplant was performed, increasing the cure rate for Mr. Manh.

In the early stages, leukemia often starts and progresses silently without specific symptoms, easily confused with common fatigue. When symptoms are clear, the disease is detected too late. Early treatment helps limit the increase of malignant cells, reduce the risk of malignant invasion into other tissues and organs in the body, and increase the response rate and survival time.

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation is a method of transferring stem cells from a blood relative or unrelated person (meeting certain requirements) to a patient. After allogeneic stem cell transplantation, the patient's blood count begins to increase, and the body can recover to normal levels after about 6 months. In cases where the patient responds well to treatment, the patient's survival prognosis is about 50 - 85%, according to Dr. Thanh.

* Patient's name has been changed