Haematology

Chemotherapy is an approach to cancer therapy which involves the administration of medicine, usually orally or by injection, which is intended to kill cancer cells or minimise their growth and spread. Chemotherapy can be used in conjunction with other cancer treatments.⁵

Immunotherapy is a type of treatment that is intended to help your own immune system fight cancer. There are different types of immunotherapy for cancer that work in different ways.⁶

Radiation therapy uses high energy X-rays or other particles to treat cancer and can be used at all stages.⁷

A venesection, also known as phlebotomy, refers to the drawing of blood from a vein. It may be used to remove excess iron or red blood cells, or in order to donate or use the blood to treat a variety of conditions.⁸

Blood products include red blood cells, platelets and plasma. Each of these products are used for a variety of treatments for people with blood disorders.⁹

In the body, iron is used to make haemoglobin in the red blood cells. Oxygen sticks to haemoglobin so the red blood cells can carry it around the body to the cells.¹⁰ Your doctor may recommend an iron infusion (where iron supplements are delivered directly into a vein) if your iron levels are low and you cannot take oral iron supplements, you have issues absorbing iron from the food you eat or you need to increase your iron levels quickly (for example right before a surgery).¹⁰

Red blood cells are used for conditions like anaemia, for patients having surgery or for patients with cancer. Platelets are needed for blood clotting so platelet transfusions are used in patients with clotting disorders, such as those on chemotherapy, who have had a bone marrow transplant or bleeding disorders.⁹

Plasma (the liquid part of blood) can be used to make other products by extracting specific proteins, which can then be used to treat different conditions.⁹ Examples of these include clotting factors for haemophilia and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg, sometimes known as antibodies) which is used to help regulate the immune response for a range of conditions.⁹ 

In Australia, patients must meet specific criteria before they can receive IVIg and it is only available through arrangements made by the National Blood Authority. This is to ensure that the high demand for these expensive products is met safely, affordably and equitably amongst patients that need them.⁹

1. Johns Hopkins Medicine. Hematology. Available from: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/hematology (accessed December 2023).
2. National Cancer Institute, NCI dictionaries, Dictionary of cancer terms, ‘hematologist’. Available from: https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/hematologist (accessed December 2023).
3. HealthDirect. Haematologist. Available from: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/haematologist (accessed December 2023)
4. City of Hope (formally Cancer Treatment Centers of America), ‘Hematologic oncology’. Available from:  https://www.cancercenter.com/treatment-options/hematologic-oncology (accessed May 2023).
5. National Cancer Institute, NCI dictionaries, Dictionary of cancer terms, ‘chemotherapy’. Available from: https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/chemotherapy (accessed May 2023).
6. National Cancer Institute, NCI dictionaries, Dictionary of cancer terms, ‘immunotherapy’. Available from: https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/immunotherapy (accessed May 2023).
7. National Cancer Institute, ‘Radiation therapy’. Available from: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/radiation-therapy (accessed May 2023).
8. The Blood Unit. Venesection: Patient Information. Available from: https://thebloodunit.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/TBU-Patient-info_Procedures_Venesection.pdf (accessed December 2023).
9. National Blood Authority. Available from: https://blood.gov.au (accessed December 2023).
10. National Blood Authority. Managing my iron factsheet. Available from: https://blood.gov.au/system/files/documents/managing-my-iron-factsheet.pdf (accessed December 2023).