About leukemia
Leukemia is cancer of the blood-forming cells in the bone marrow. The main types are acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Genetic and molecular tests now guide treatment for each type.
Symptoms
Common symptoms are tiredness, pale skin, frequent infections, fever, easy bruising or bleeding, and bone pain. Chronic leukemias are often found by chance in a routine blood test.
Diagnosis
Blood counts and a blood smear raise suspicion; a bone marrow test confirms the diagnosis. Flow cytometry, cytogenetics and molecular testing define the subtype and risk group.
Treatment in China
- Chemotherapy and targeted drugs, such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors for CML and FLT3 inhibitors for AML.
- Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). All-trans retinoic acid combined with arsenic trioxide, a regimen developed by hematologists in Shanghai, now cures most patients.
- Allogeneic stem cell transplantation, including haploidentical (half-matched) transplants.
- CAR-T cell therapy for relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphomas.
Why patients choose China
Ruijin Hospital and the Shanghai Institute of Hematology, where Wang Zhenyi and Chen Saijuan developed the APL regimen, rank third nationally in hematology. Chinese centers also run some of the world’s largest CAR-T programs and clinical trials.
Treatments available in China
CAR-T cell therapy
CAR-T cell therapy reprograms a patient’s own immune cells to attack certain blood cancers. China has approved several CAR-T products since 2021 and runs one of the world’s largest CAR-T clinical research programs.
Top hospitals in China for Hematology
Fudan 2023 reputation score · bars are relative to the leader in this specialty.
- 1 Peking University People’s Hospital Beijing 10.2
- 2 Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, CAMS Tianjin 10.2
- 3 Ruijin Hospital Shanghai 8.5
- 4 First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University Suzhou 7.8
- 5 Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College Wuhan 5.7
- 6 First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine Hangzhou 5.4
- 7 Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University Guangzhou 3.1
- 8 Peking Union Medical College Hospital Beijing 2.7
- 9 Xinqiao Hospital, Army Medical University Chongqing 2.5
- 10 Qilu Hospital of Shandong University Jinan 1.5
Nominated hospitals (12)
- First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou UniversityZhengzhou
- West China Hospital, Sichuan UniversityChengdu
- Fujian Medical University Union HospitalFuzhou
- Chinese PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital)Beijing
- First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen UniversityGuangzhou
- Xiangya Hospital, Central South UniversityChangsha
- Jiangsu Province Hospital (First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University)Nanjing
- Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeWuhan
- Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan UniversityShanghai
- First Hospital of Jilin UniversityChangchun
- Shandong Provincial HospitalJinan
- Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical UniversityXuzhou
Hospitals to consider
Peking Union Medical College Hospital
- Fudan 2023
- #1 Allergy
- #1 Critical care medicine
Peking University People’s Hospital
- Fudan 2023
- #1 Hematology
- #2 Rheumatology
Specialists
- Leukemia
- Acute promyelocytic leukemia
- Molecular genetics of blood cancers
Frequently asked questions
What records are needed for a leukemia second opinion?
Complete blood counts, bone marrow aspirate and biopsy reports, flow cytometry, cytogenetic and molecular test results (for example FLT3, NPM1, BCR-ABL or PML-RARA), and the treatment given so far.
Is stem cell transplantation available for international patients?
Several Chinese centers perform allogeneic stem cell transplantation, including from half-matched family donors. Suitability depends on the type of leukemia, remission status and donor availability, which our coordinators can check with the transplant team.