Course Description:

This online video course provides learners with the medical management and cancer rehabilitation of people living with and beyond (PLWB) leukemia and lymphoma. PLWB lymphoma and leukemia offer unique challenges to physical and occupational therapists, even for experienced cancer rehab therapists. There are more than 80 different types of lymphoma with varying curability, types of systemic therapy applied, and adverse effects seen from both cancer and its treatment. This heterogeneity increases the complexity of rehabilitation needs in this population. While there is less variety in the types of leukemia, the intensity and duration of their medical management, including stem cell transplant, makes their clinical rehabilitation presentation unique. The importance of rehabilitation in this population is gaining traction, primarily as the person's functional status is used in determining which cancer treatment is the most optional for the patient

This course will discuss the differences between lymphoma and leukemia from the biology, types, disease progressions, prognosis, and treatment pathways. The types of chemotherapy, adverse effects treated by cancer rehab clinicians, the impact of radiation therapy on multi-body systems, and the functional impacts stem cell and bone marrow transplantation will be presented. Physical and occupational therapists will then be educated on the application of prospective surveillance, including prehab and early intervention for those undergoing transplant and concurrently on chemotherapy, as well as how to manage a person with acute on chronic impairments from continuous chemotherapy. Common impairments, such as cancer-related fatigue, myelosuppression, chemotherapy-included peripheral neuropathy, steroid-induced myelopathy, and graft-verse-host disease, will be reviewed and presented via case study to synthesize the patient's oncology history into cancer rehabilitation management. Finally, we will discuss the muti-disciplinary treatment approach for Hodgkin lymphoma survivors experiencing late and long-lasting effects of radiation therapy years or even decades later.