Hematology in Israel

Today hematology in Israel is at the highest stage of its development. In leading medical centers, it is possible to achieve complete remission in 80% of patients diagnosed with lymphoma and in 95% of patients with leukemia. These are extraordinary indicators that all hematology clinics in the world strive for.

Hematology in Israel continues to develop. Every day, innovative and highly accurate diagnostic methods and effective treatment methods are introduced into practice. All this is thanks to active conduct of clinical studies at Israeli medical centers. Every patient can join an experimental program, for example, for lymphoma treatment in Israel. For some seriously ill people, this is the only and real chance to return to a healthy life.

Patients from all over the world come to Hematology Department of Tel Aviv Medical Center for treatment. Our doctors provide effective assistance even in extremely difficult cases, when specialists at home can no longer help the patient.

close up. scientist looking at a drop of blood through a microscope. photo with a copy-space.

Departments

Hematology Department of Tel Aviv Medical Center provides care to patients with both oncological blood diseases and benign pathologies (anemia, thrombocytopenia, etc.). Several divisions operate on the basis of Hematology Department:

Hematology Oncology – is at intersection of oncology and hematology; deals with the study, diagnosis and treatment of malignant diseases of blood system and hematopoietic organs (leukemia, leukemia);
General Hematology – deals with problems such as anemia (there are more than 300 types of anemia), hemorrhagic diathesis and coagulopathy (diseases manifested by an increased tendency to bleed), etc.
Bone Marrow Transplantation Department. Here, patients are prepared for bone marrow transplant procedure, the procedure itself is performed, after which patient receives all the necessary rehabilitation and care services after bone marrow transplantation.
Apheresis department. In Apheresis Department, donor blood and its components are prepared, and patients who need a treatment method such as plasmapheresis receive all the necessary treatment sessions here.

What diseases does Hematology Department treat?

Pediatric Hematology Oncology

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)

Hodgkin's lymphoma

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Diagnostic methods in hematology

In Hematology Clinic, both standard diagnostic methods and quite specific ones are used. Patients in Adult Hematology Department at Tel Aviv Medical Center have access to modern and accurate diagnostic procedures. The main ones:

General and biochemical blood tests, determination of various antibodies in blood, assessment of blood coagulation function and fibrinolytic system, etc.
Ultrasound of organs and soft tissues, lymph nodes. Performing a puncture biopsy under ultrasound guidance.
Bone biopsy and bone marrow aspiration followed by myelogram examination is a modern method that allows diagnosing a large number of blood diseases.
Biopsy of lymph nodes followed by cytological and histological examination of biopsy specimens.
Immunophenotyping of blood cells and tumor cells is a highly informative method for verifying the diagnosis; it allows us to determine which blood cells the tumor originates from and what treatment regimen to choose so that the treatment is most effective.
Modern medical imaging methods are actively used in diagnostics of hematological diseases and their complications. Doctor receives a lot of useful information using digital radiography, CT, MRI, PET-CT, MSCT and their various modifications.
Gallium scintigraphy helps to visualize primary tumor and its metastases in patient’s body, and then actively influence them.
Lumbar puncture followed by examination of cerebrospinal fluid can be used in patients with suspected tumor lesions of central nervous system in some hematological diseases, in particular lymphomas.

Important!

The main differences in hematological diseases treatment in Israel and in Europe:

• in Israel, patient gets a better chance of undergoing a bone marrow transplant, as one of the most effective methods of hematology oncology pathology treatment (chances of finding the necessary donor are much higher);

• training of hematologists in Israel is twice as long as in Eastern European countries;

• quick and effective implementation of the most advanced diagnostic and treatment methods into practice, which has a positive effect on the final result of treatment for each individual patient.

Modern treatment methods in hematology

In recent years, extraordinary progress has been made in the main method of treating hematology oncology diseases – bone marrow transplantation. Before the procedure, chemotherapy or radiation therapy is used to destroy patient’s bone marrow, which is not functioning properly and is producing defective tumor cells. After this, he is injected with healthy bone marrow from a donor (most often a close relative or another person who is most suitable for a number of characteristics as a donor). This type of bone marrow transplantation is called allogeneic. After this, the donor bone marrow takes root in the new place and begins to function correctly and fully, thus depriving its new owner of a serious and deadly disease.

Sometimes autologous bone marrow transplantation is performed. This is when a patient needs high-dose chemotherapy or radiation therapy to beat their cancer. But, unfortunately, such high doses lead to irreversible damage to bone marrow cells. Therefore, before the treatment course, patient’s bone marrow is taken, and after chemotherapy course or radiotherapy, pre-collected healthy bone marrow material is injected, which easily takes root and begins to function. This treatment method allows us to defeat aggressive malignant diseases and bypass severe side effects of such a treatment program.

Stem cell transplantation is an innovative treatment method in hematology. Stem cells are obtained from bone marrow, umbilical cord blood and peripheral blood before complex treatment (chemotherapy + radiation therapy), after which they are returned back into patient’s bloodstream. Stem cells can be your own or can be donated. Using this treatment method, it is possible to overcome up to 90% of all diseases accompanied by hematopoietic disorders (aplastic anemia, various forms of leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, hereditary syndromes of bone marrow dysfunction, etc.).

Today, new generation of antitumor drugs are available for use (immunotherapy, targeted therapy), for example, therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (rituximab, alemtuzumab, zevalin, mylotarg and others), obtained by genetic engineering. Their action is based on the ability to selectively bind to certain types of tumor cells, activating the immune system to destroy such complexes.

Important!

Monoclonal antibodies act selectively – they damage malignant cells, while not harming other healthy cells in the body. This is precisely their main difference and advantage from classical chemotherapy drugs.

CAR T-cell therapy is a modern method of blood system malignant diseases of treating. The essence of the technique is to extract T-lymphocytes from patient’s body with their subsequent genetic modification (a kind of training) so that when they return to patient’s body they can find and destroy tumor cells. This is an innovative treatment method that all our patients have access to. The method is used to treat certain types of leukemia and lymphoma.

Among treatment methods in Hematology Department, a procedure such as transfusion of blood components is used. For patient safety for whom blood transfusion is planned, donors are carefully checked for infectious diseases that can be transmitted with blood components (viral hepatitis B and C, HIV, syphilis, and some other infections). More often, blood is transfused for refractory and severe anemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, thrombocytopenia and some other conditions accompanied by a high risk of bleeding.

Modern chemotherapy drugs are actively used in complex treatment of oncological and hematological diseases. At Tel Aviv Medical Center, we use only high-quality and safe chemotherapy drugs from proven, well-known manufacturers. In each individual case, regimen and protocol for chemotherapy and immunotherapy is selected by doctor based on diagnosis, type of tumor, patient’s condition, presence of concomitant health problems, and response to treatment.

After the course of received treatment, patient and his relatives, if necessary, can receive all the necessary psychological support, training in aftercare, as well as the entire range of rehabilitation measures. This approach significantly improves the prognosis and reduces likelihood of long-term side effects from therapy.