Leukaemia patients needing blood transplant have hope

RIGHT OPTION: Allogenic BMT is an option for those patients whose own bone marrow cells have degenerated.

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Keywords: Transplant, Leukemia

New Delhi: Not many in India may know what Allogenic Bone Marrow transplant technique is.

That is mainly because there are not many centres that perform the procedure. The main reasons for this are expensive treatment costs and lack of infrastructure.

But with a few centres taking baby steps in setting up suitable facilities, there is hope for patients now.

In fact a special transplant unit is where Rajesh got a second shot at life. Suffering two relapses while on chemotherapy for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, Rajesh's only chance of survival was to opt for Allogenic Bone Marrow Transplant.

“When I was admitted in a hospital on April 21, 2005, it was then I knew that I was suffering from this disease,” says Rajesh.

Allogenic BMT is an option for those patients whose own bone marrow cells have been rendered useless either due to chemotherapy, in case of blood cancer patients or if the cells have genetic flaws, in case of thalessemia and aplastic anaemia.

While there are a few Allogenic BMT centres in southern India, till recently it was only at AIIMS in north India where patients could seek the same treatment.

“Such a facility requires a special unit where the patient can recuperate,” says HOD, Medical Oncology, AIIMS, Dr Vinod Raina

One of the most important steps is post procedural monitoring. This is essential because allogenic BMT comes with its share of risks.

“A patient can develop infection, graft vs host disease, organs toxicity due to the chemotherapy or the host body may reject donor cells,” says Haematology, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute, Dr Dinesh Bhurani.

Unlike Autologous BMT where the patients' own bone marrow cells are used for treatment, Allogenic bone marrow transplant involves harvesting stem cells from close relatives.

The success of Allogenic bone marrow transplant also depends on the nature of disease, the age of the patient and what stage the disease is in.