Lymphoma & Leukemia Center

State-Of-The-Art Treatments For Blood Cancers

Lymphoma and leukemia are cancers that develop in cells of the blood, bone marrow, and immune system [including the lymph nodes]. About five percent of all cancers are lymphomas and leukemias. Advances in the treatment of lymphoma and leukemia mean that people with these cancers have a much better chance of cure than ever before. These state-of-the-art treatments are available at the Lymphoma & Leukemia Center at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey at Cooper—including through clinical trials.

“Many lymphomas and leukemias, particularly the more aggressive diseases, are curable with current therapies. While chronic blood cancers are not curable, we can markedly prolong the patient’s lifespan,” said Neil A. Lachant, M.D., a Hematologist and Director of the Lymphoma & Leukemia Center. A nationally recognized clotting expert and the co-author of a cancer chemotherapy handbook, Dr. Lachant is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Dr. Lachant is part of a team of doctors—hematologists, medical oncologists, pathologists, and radiation oncologists—who work together to provide optimal, individualized care for adult patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood cancers. The team includes Medical Oncologists Linda Devereux, M.D., Alexandre Hageboutros, M.D., Kumar Rajagopalan, M.D., and Eve Rodler, M.D.; Radiation Oncologist Samuel Lee Hughes, M.D.; Pathologist Edison Catalano, M.D.; and Hematologist Robert Calvo, M.D.. An Oncology Nurse Coordinator, Alice O’Brien, RN, supports, educates, and assists patients and their families, serving as a link to their physicians and to supportive services.

Accurate and prompt diagnosis is critical in treating lymphomas and leukemias. Most of these cancers are often fatal within months if left untreated. Diagnosis is complicated, since some signs and symptoms of blood cancers, such as weight loss, fever, and loss of appetite, are often caused by something other than cancer, and several types of blood cancers are difficult to distinguish from each other. Both Dr. Lachant and Dr. Catalano have the expertise necessary to promptly and accurately diagnose any type of lymphoma or leukemia.

Clinical trials play a major role in treating these cancers. Through National Cancer Institute- and industry-sponsored clinical trials, the Lymphoma & Leukemia Center provides patients with access to new treatments and new combinations of treatments.

Cooper researchers are participating in a phase IV National Cancer Institute study of a drug called Gleevac in patients with newly diagnosed chronic myelogenous leukemia [CML] in the chronic phase. “Gleevac can be considered a home run in treating CML, which was fatal within five years without a bone marrow transplant before this drug was developed,” said Dr. Lachant.

Cooper is one of 40 sites worldwide—and the only site in the Delaware Valley—for the phase III SHEPHERD trial, which is studying a drug called eculizumab in patients with Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria [PNH], a rare blood disorder that causes severe anemia, chronic fatigue, and intermittent episodes of dark colored urine. PNH patients also have an increased risk of forming life-threatening blood clots. Eculizumab is the first drug developed to treat PNH.

For more information about the Lymphoma & Leukemia Center or to schedule an appointment with a Cooper University Physician, please call 1-800-8-COOPER (1-800-826-6737) to speak with a member of our physician referral and information service.