What is the survival rate of HLH?

Familial HLH is fatal without treatment, with median survival of about two to six months. Chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy temporarily control the disease, but symptoms inevitably return.

Is HLH a cancer?

HLH is not a cancer. Over the years cancer treatments have been used in patients with HLH. Consequently, Hematologists and Oncologists who treat cancer also treat children with HLH.

What is HLH oncology?

A rare disorder in which histiocytes and lymphocytes (types of white blood cells) build up in organs including the skin, spleen, and liver, and destroy other blood cells.

What causes HLH cancer?

Acquired HLH in adults can be caused by: Viral infections, most often Epstein-Barr virus. Other infections from bacteria or fungi. Some types of cancer, such as T-cell lymphoma.

Is HLH curable?

Stem cell transplant can cure HLH in most cases. There is no way to prevent HLH, but as healthcare providers continue to learn more about it, treatment improves. Most children who are successfully treated go on to live normal lives.

How does someone get HLH?

Primary, or familial, HLH is caused by problems in genes that control how the immune system kills virus-infected or other abnormal cells in a person’s body. These genes include PRF1, MUNC 13-4, STXBP2 and STX11. Primary HLH also occurs in some closely related inherited diseases.

What causes HLH in adults?

In adults, many different conditions, including infections and cancer, can cause HLH. If you have HLH, your body’s defense system, called your immune system, does not work normally. Certain white blood cells — histiocytes and lymphocytes — attack your other blood cells.

Can Covid trigger HLH?

HLH is a life-threatening hyperinflammatory syndrome caused by aberrantly activated macrophages and cytotoxic T cells, which may rapidly progress to terminal multiple organ failure. In this case, HLH was induced by the COVID-19 vaccination immuno-stimulation on a chronic EBV infection background.

Can a vaccine cause HLH?

How do I treat HLH blood?

Treatment should be started immediately once a diagnosis of HLH is established. Treatment includes dexamethasone and etoposide. Alternative “salvage” therapies that target T cells include anti-thymocyte globulin and alemtuzumab.

What does HLH stand for in health in medical category?

HLH stands for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. It is a life-threatening condition that can be defined as either primary or secondary HLH. Primary, or “familial,” HLH is when the condition is inherited. The term secondary HLH is used when your doctor thinks the condition may have occurred for a variety of other non-inherited reasons.

Is HLH cancer?

HLH is a rare condition where the body produces too many white blood cells called lymphocytes and histiocytes. If it is not treated, these extra cells collect in organs in the body and damage them. HLH is not cancer, but it is similar to cancer and usually treated by cancer specialists.