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CC BY 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol 2023; 44(05): 460-463
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1764367
Perspective

The Symbiotic Relationship between a Clinical Hematologist and Hematopathologist in the Management of Children with Cancer

Sidharth Totadri 
1   Department of Paediatrics, Paediatric Haematology-Oncology Unit, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
,
Tulasi Geevar
2   Department of Transfusion Medicine and Immunohaematology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
,
Arun Kumar Arunachalam 
3   Department of Haematology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Introduction

Hematological malignancies, namely, leukemias and lymphomas comprise the major part of clinical practice for most centers that manage children with cancer.[1] Survival of children with common pediatric malignancies such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), Hodgkin's lymphoma, and Burkitt's lymphoma has improved by leaps and bounds over the last few decades. This can be largely attributed to superior diagnostic techniques and risk-stratified approaches that tailor the therapy for different patient subgroups. The pathology laboratory, by performing indispensable tests ranging from cytology and histomorphology to immunohistochemistry (IHC), flow cytometry, and molecular methods, has veritably paved the way for this success story.

The evolution of hematology as a specialty can be attributed to doctors who played the dual role of managing patients at the bedside and examining their peripheral smears and bone marrow aspirates in the laboratory.[2] It is only in the last 20 years that clinical and laboratory hematologists are emerging as distinct specialists. The dichotomy is necessitated by the growing number of children being diagnosed with hematological disorders and the multitude of investigations that are now mandatory for their standard of care. Yet, it is noteworthy that contemporary courses that train clinical and laboratory hematologists ensure the rotation of the trainees in the laboratory and clinical areas, respectively. In this perspective, the authors illustrate the importance of a healthy relationship between the two groups of professionals with the help of some real-life scenarios.

Author Contributions

The manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors that the requirements for authorship have been met and that each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work.




Publication History

Article published online:
04 November 2023

© 2023. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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