APL patients are currently treated using chemotherapy, but that risks side-effects. (representational)
Indian doctors have found a treatment for a type of blood cancer without using chemotherapy, a study has claimed. Patients with acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) were completely cured following the treatment, said doctors at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.
The achievement that came after 15 years of research makes India the first country to have a treatment for this type of blood cancer without any need of chemotherapy, they claimed in their study in the British Journal of Haematology.
"Our study shows that a combination of ATO (Arsenic trioxide) + ATRA (Arsenic trioxide) can be used effectively to treat all risk classes of APL without additional chemotherapy," their study said.
Chemotherapy can be added in high-risk patients, they added.
APL patients are currently treated using only chemotherapy, but that risks side-effects.
A total of 256 patients were part of the treatment, but 25 died within seven days and were excluded from the analysis, the doctors said.