The Unoentrecienmil foundation, dedicated to promoting research projects for the cure of childhood leukaemia, has launched a campaign entitled “Leukaemia, go now” starring the actor Luis Tosar, in which he claims that children suffering from leukaemia in Spain are treated with a different protocol to those in the rest of Europe. With a survival rate of 84.7%, Spain occupies the thirteenth position, behind countries such as Finland (94.5%), the United Kingdom (92.2%) and Germany (91%).
These countries apply the “ALL Together” protocol, introduced in Spain by the Spanish Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (SEHOP) through a privately funded pilot project. The Unoentrecienmil foundation has invested almost one million euros and thanks to this, the laboratories of the Niño Jesús hospital in Madrid and Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona have been equipped to perform a test that facilitates the diagnosis and monitoring of patients. Although 100 children in Spain benefit from this initiative, current efforts are still not sufficient to cover all needs: around 300 cases are diagnosed throughout the country each year.
To ensure that the treatment reaches all patients, it is necessary that it be assumed and financed by public administrations. “It is not a matter of the government, nor of colours or parties, it is a matter of collaboration so that all the autonomous regions sit down and make this work. New treatments are not needed, we just have to know how to administer them,” explains Elena Huarte-Mendicoa, director of Unoentrecienmil, to elDiario.es. In addition, she assures that the additional cost per patient would be only 5,500 euros: “It is not something that corresponds to an organisation with private funds but to the National Health System.”
This innovative protocol for the treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) aims to improve the efficacy of treatment, reduce toxicity and personalize the therapeutic approach based on the individual characteristics of each patient. Patients survive longer and the percentage of death due to relapse has decreased significantly. This is another step in the fight against the main cause of infant mortality in Spain.
Source: www.eldiario.es
