The BMF clinic is on a Tuesday afternoon and encompasses mainly patients with acute leukaemia, aplastic anaemia and myelodysplasia along with other disorders which result in impaired bone marrow function.
We look after patients not only from Newcastle but also the wider region.
The BMF clinic is on Tuesday afternoon in NCCC Outpatients located on level 2.
When you attend the clinic or day unit, you will have blood tests done prior to seeing the Doctor or Nurse Specialist.
Patients 24 years and younger will be offered support from the Teenage and Young adult service.
In addition, we use the Haematology day unit (ward 36) for procedure such as bone marrow biopsy and Ambulatory unit for transfusions and chemotherapy administration/ IV infusions.
If patients require a hospital admission, they will be on the NCCC wards 33, 34 or 35.
The BMF team includes:
Dr Gail Jones – Consultant Haematologist
Dr Erin Hurst – Consultant Haematologist
Dr Michelle Lannon – Consultant Haematologist
Sarah Blakey – Leukaemia Nurse Specialist
Charlotte Ord – Leukaemia Nurse Specialist
Elaine Wittert – secretary
Contacting the team
If you are unwell please call the alert line on 0191 2139302
For any queries or for support outside of your clinic appointments, you can contact the nurse specialists direct on
01912139201 – Sarah Blakey
01912139285 – Charlotte Ord
For appointment queries please call Elaine on 01912138659
Acute Myeloid Leukaemia
Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a rare type of cancer. It can affect people at any age but is more common in people over 65. Around 2,500 people are diagnosed with AML each year in the UK.
AML is a type of leukaemia. Normally, blood cells are made in the bone marrow in an orderly and controlled way. In people with AML, this process gets out of control and many abnormal leukaemia cells are made. These immature cells aren’t able to develop into normal functioning blood cells.
In AML, too many early myeloid cells are made. In most types of AML, the leukaemia cells are immature white blood cells. In some less common types of AML, too many immature platelets or immature red blood cells are made.
The immature cells fill up the bone marrow, taking up space that’s needed to make normal blood cells. Some leukaemia cells ‘spill over’ into the blood and circulate around the body in the bloodstream. These leukaemia cells don’t mature, so they don’t work properly. This leads to an increased risk of infection, as well as symptoms such as anaemia and bruising caused by fewer healthy red blood cells and platelets being made.
Symptoms of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)
Most symptoms of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) are due to the effects of the leukaemia cells in the bone marrow, which leave it unable to produce enough normal blood cells.
The main symptoms are:
- looking pale and feeling tired and breathless, which is due to anaemia caused by a lack of red blood cells
- having more infections than usual, because of a lack of healthy white blood cells
- unusual bleeding caused by too few platelets – this may include bruising (bruises may appear without any apparent injury), heavy periods in women, bleeding gums, nosebleeds and blood spots or rashes on the skin (petechiae)
- feeling generally unwell and run down
- Having a fever and sweats, which may be due to an infection or the leukaemia itself.
Other less common symptoms of AML may be caused by a build-up of leukaemia cells in a particular area of the body. Your bones might ache, caused by the pressure from a build-up of immature cells in the bone marrow. You might also notice raised, bluish-purple areas under the skin due to leukaemia cells in the skin, or swollen gums caused by leukaemia cells in the gums.
Occasionally, a person has no symptoms and the leukaemia is discovered during a routine blood test.
Symptoms may appear over a few weeks, and people often feel ill quite quickly. If you have any of the symptoms mentioned here, you should have them checked by your doctor – but remember they are common to many illnesses other than leukaemia.
*Information provided by Macmillan cancer support
Myelodysplastic syndrome (myelodysplasia)
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a type of rare blood cancer where you don’t have enough healthy blood cells.
It’s also known as myelodysplasia.
There are many different types of MDS. Some types can stay mild for years and others are more serious.
MDS can affect people of any age, but is most common in adults over the age of 70.
What happens in MDS?
Normally, the spongy tissue found inside bones (bone marrow) produces:
- red blood cells to carry oxygen around your body
- white blood cells to help fight infection
- platelets to help your blood clot
But in MDS, your bone marrow doesn’t make enough of these healthy blood cells. Instead, it makes abnormal cells that aren’t fully developed (immature).
As the condition progress, your bone marrow gets gradually taken over by the immature blood cells, which don’t work properly.
They squeeze out the healthy ones, making the number of cells that manage to get into the bloodstream lower and lower.
The condition can develop slowly (indolent) or quickly (aggressive), and in some people it can develop into a type of leukaemia called acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).
Main types of MDS
MDS can affect just one type of blood cell or many, depending on the type of MDS you have.
Until 2016, the types of MDS were called:
- refractory anaemia – where you don’t have enough red blood cells
- refractory cytopenia – where you don’t have enough red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets
- refractory anaemia with excess blasts – where you don’t have enough red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets, and have a higher risk of developing AML
In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) changed the terms to:
- MDS with single lineage dysplasia (replacing refractory anaemia)
- MDS with multilineage dysplasia (replacing refractory cytopenia)
- MDS with excess blasts (replacing refractory anaemia with excess blasts)
There are other types of MDS, and your doctor may also talk to you about the “risk group” of your MDS. This refers to how likely it is that your MDS might develop into AML.
Find more information on the types and risk groups of MDS:
Symptoms of MDS
The symptoms you have will depend on the type of MDS. For most people, symptoms are mild at first and slowly get worse.
They can include:
- weakness, tiredness and occasional breathlessness (because of the low number of red blood cells)
- frequent infections (because of the low number of white blood cells)
- bruising and easy bleeding, such as nosebleeds (because of the low number of platelets)
Some people with MDS don’t have any symptoms. They may find out they have MDS after having blood tests for something else.
Risk of development into leukaemia
Some people with MDS go on to develop acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), which is cancer of the white blood cells.
This is known as “transformation”. It can take a few months or up to several years before transformation takes place.
The risk of this happening depends on what kind of MDS you have, and the number of normal and abnormal blood cells you have.
Ask your doctor about your risk of developing AML.
Treatments for MDS
The type of treatment you get will depend on the type of MDS you have, your risk of developing AML, and whether you have any other health conditions.
The aim of treatment is to get the number and type of blood cells in your bloodstream back to normal and manage your symptoms.
If your MDS has only a low risk of transforming into cancer, you may not need any treatment at first and may just be monitored with regular blood tests.
Treating your symptoms (supportive treatment)
Symptoms of MDS can often be controlled with a combination of the following treatments:
- injections of growth factor medicines, such as erythropoietin or G-CSF – to increase the number of healthy red or white blood cells
- a blood transfusion – of either red blood cells or platelets, depending on which you need
- medicine to get rid of the excess iron in your blood – which can build up after a lot of blood transfusions
- antibiotics to treat infections – if your white blood cell count is low
information provided by NHS
Aplastic Anaemia
Aplastic Anaemia is a rare and life-threatening blood disorder caused by the bone marrow not functioning properly. In people with aplastic anaemia, the bone marrow fails to produce enough of all three types of blood cells – red, white and platelets.
- Red blood cells are essential for carrying oxygen around the body
- White blood cells help us fight infections, bugs and germs
- Platelets are responsible for stopping us bleeding and bruising
The word ‘aplastic’ means the body’s inability to create new cells, so that tissue cannot grow or regenerate.
Who can be affected by aplastic anaemia?
Aplastic Anaemia can affect anyone of any age but is most common in the young (10 to 20 years old) and elderly (60 years old +).
How many people are diagnosed?
It is estimated that between 100 and 150 people will be diagnosed across the UK every year. That’s around 2 people for every 1,000,000 of population. This deems aplastic anaemia an ultra rare disease. The exact occurrence of the disease is not known and more research is needed to establish a baseline figure.
What causes aplastic anaemia?
Our immune system plays a very important role in aplastic anaemia. It is understood that in most cases the damage to the stem cells is caused by an auto-immune reaction. Our immune system normally surveys our body and helps it to fight infections, bugs and germs. In rare cases it attacks the bone marrow itself assuming it to be faulty. The bone marrow function starts to slow down, and in doing so, results in the under-production of all the blood cells.
What are the symptoms?
The most common symptoms of aplastic anaemia will be anaemia caused by a reduction in red blood cells, with associated feeling of fatigue, shortness of breath, headaches and, occasionally, chest pains.
A lack of white blood cells can lead to infections, such as sinus or throat and chest infections.
Low platelets cause a tendency to bleed easily, for example, from the nose or gums, may lead to unexplained bruising, blood blisters in the mouth, but also serious bleeding, for example in the brain or in the gut.
Information supplied by aplastic anaemia trust
Further info can be found on the following links
Macmillan www.macmillan.org.uk
Leukaemia care www.leukaemiacare.org.uk
Blood Cancer UK www.bloodcancer.org.uk
MDS UK www.mdspatientsupport.org.uk
The Aplastic anaemia trust www.theaat.org.uk
