The chronic myelomonocytic leukemia that affected Silvio Berlusconi is not classified among the most serious forms, and can be treated with a type of latest generation chemotherapy that acts on the DNA. This is explained by Claudio Cerchione, Medical Research Director, Irccs Romagna Institute for the Study of Tumors ‘Dino Amadori’ and Presidents of SOHO – Italy (Society of Hematologic Oncology Italy).
In general, chronic leukemias, the hematologist told ANSA, “have a much more indolent and less serious course than the acute forms. This means that it is not always necessary to intervene immediately: in many cases it is in fact possible to keep the disease under control observation without immediate pharmacological intervention. On the other hand, therapeutic intervention is required when there is an ‘explosion’ of disease”. As in all leukaemias, Cerchione clarifies, “the cells of the bone marrow are affected. The peculiarity of the form that struck Silvio Berlusconi is that the disease is characterized by the increase of a particular population of white blood cells: monocytes. The Treatment is required when cancer cells increase so much that they block the bone marrow’s production of normal red blood cells, platelets, and white blood cells.” In these cases, he underlines, “treatment with the latest generation of chemotherapy is possible, defined as demythylating agents, which act on the DNA. This means that the chemotherapy drug restores the correct functioning of the DNA, allowing the bone marrow to resume the normal production of cells of the blood, suppressing the action of cancer cells. Along with chemotherapy, supportive therapies such as erythropoietin are also useful for faster recovery from chemotherapy.” This innovative chemotherapy is carried out in the hospital and these drugs “do not have major side effects and are usually well tolerated”.
As for the pneumonia from which Berlusconi was struck, according to Cerchione this “may be a consequence of the weakening of the immune system. However, if the chemotherapy works, the effect should also be that of a recovery of the immune system”. The importance of treatment at a certain stage is therefore crucial, he notes, “to prevent the disease from passing from a chronic phase to a much more serious secondary acute phase”. In the chronic phase, on the other hand, “the treatments give good hope of stabilization and a worsening can be avoided. In other words, the disease can be kept under control even for a long time and with a good quality of life”. A more decisive treatment would be the marrow transplant from a compatible donor but this type of intervention, concludes Cerchione, “is indicated for patients in good general condition and under 65 years of age”.
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