5 min read
Every year, around 400 people are diagnosed with Leukemia in Hong Kong. Leukemia is a type of bone marrow cancer that involves white blood cells. It is the most common cancer in children (affecting 4 in 100,000 children), leading to 50 to 60 children diagnosed with Leukemia per year.
Leukemia harms the body’s ability to make healthy blood cells when normal white blood cells help fight and protect from infections. Affected patients have malfunctioning white blood cells and the number of them is so large that they crowd out the red blood cells and platelets. Although leukemia is often linked to children, it actually appears 10 times more in adults, and affects both men and women at similar rates.
The main classifications are as follows:
Depending on the type of leukemia, there might be different symptoms. Below are the most common ones:
These symptoms might occur in case of acute leukemia: easy bruising or bleeding, petechiae (flat, pinpoint spots under the skin caused by bleeding).
Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL)
Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML): pain or a feeling of fullness below the ribs on the left side.
Note: sometimes CML does not have any symptoms at all.
There is no exact known cause. However, there are certain factors that might increase the risk of getting leukemia:
There are different ways of diagnosis:
The treatment you receive depends on the cancer type and stage, they are:
With proper treatment, leukemia is not always deadly. The chance of cure by chemotherapy is estimated at 70% - 80% for children and up to 60% for young adults with acute leukemia.
Cost of Treatment in Hong Kong’s Public Sector:
For eligible persons with an HKID card, the cost for inpatient service is $75 admission fee and $120 per day. Extra medications or other injections needed are not included. For day procedure and treatment at Clinical Oncology Clinics, the cost is $96 per attendance.
For non-eligible persons without an HKID card, the cost for inpatient general hospital is $5,100 per day. For day procedure and treatment at Clinical Oncology Clinics, the cost is $895 per attendance.
Beware of waiting times which can be very long in the public sector.
For details, call the Hospital Authority at 2300 6555.
Cost of Treatment in Hong Kong’s Private Sector:
In Hong Kong, fees are determined according to the choice of room (private, semi-private, ward), doctor fees, medication fees, and administration fees of each hospital or clinic, therefore it may vary significantly. Treatments including chemotherapy and target therapy in the private sector range from about $100,000 to $1,000,000.
*All amounts are in HKD. No responsibility is accepted for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. It is always best to call ahead to make sure the information is still up-to-date.
Survival is closely related to the stage of leukemia at diagnosis. Roughly 60–70% of all leukemia patients survive more than 5 years with leukemia, according to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. When given the proper treatment in time, young adults have up to 60% chance to cure the cancer, and children 70–80%.
Treatments may vary depending on the type and stage of leukemia. Specifically, chemotherapy, biological therapy, targeted therapy, radiation therapy, stem cell transplant and surgery are commonly adopted by doctors to treat leukemia.
Patients with leukemia would fail to produce healthy cells and manifest malfunctioning white blood cells. Normal body functions, particularly the immune system, will fail in advanced leukemia, causing deaths due to organ failure, infections, malnutrition, etc.
For treatments in the public system, the cost for inpatient service is HK$75 (admission fee) plus $120 per day, excluding medications or injections; day procedure and treatment at Clinical Oncology Clinics would cost HK$895 per attendance. As for the private sector, treatments may cost from around HK$100,000 to over $1,000,000, subject to the actual procedures required.
Hong Kong Blood Cancer Foundation
This article was medically reviewed by Dr. Herman Liu. Dr. Herman Liu was a graduate of the University of Hong Kong in 1992. He has been practicing haematology and haematological oncology for 20 years. He was a consultant in haematology before he left the public service sector in 2016. His clinic in Central provides a series of haematological consultation, diagnosis and treatment.
According to Alea, leukemia-related surgery is usually reimbursed under hospital/surgical benefits whereas chemotherapy/radiation therapies are usually reimbursed under cancer cover. Generally, high-end medical plans will reimburse cancer treatments in full without any sub-limit whereas local plans will have sub-limits.
This article was independently written by Healthy Matters. It is informative only and not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be relied upon for specific medical advice.
Healthy Matters is Hong Kong’s leading health resource. Our mission is to help you make better health decisions and take control of your health.
Our team of experts is committed to producing reliable health content that is accurate, engaging and relevant, to cover your health & wellness journey from prevention to treatment.
Whether you are looking for trusted information on health conditions, wellbeing or looking for the right doctor or service in Hong Kong, we’re here to help!
Your health matters. Begin your health journey with Healthy Matters today!