BBCI achieves feat in bone-marrow transplantation in Northeast

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: A patient of multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, has successfully undergone Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation or Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) at Dr Bhubaneswar Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI).

This is the first case of BMT in a public sector hospital in entire North-East India. The patient is a 58 years old man from Nalbari district who underwent the process at BBCI involving multiple procedures starting July 11, 2021. The patient achieved engraftment on July 29, 2021.

Director of BBCI Dr Amal Chandra Kataki said the BMT is a medical procedure wherein stem cells collected from the bone marrow are transplanted to the patient after appropriate conditioning treatment.

"It can be autologous where a patient's marrow stem cells are transplanted, or allogeneic, where another person's stem cell that is genetically matched with the patient is used. This highly advanced medical procedure is teamwork requiring multiple specialities and infrastructure, and putting all things in one place is a tremendous achievement," Dr Kataki said.

A team of doctors headed by the Department of Medical Oncology with support from the Department of Pathology carried out this transplantation successfully at BBCI. The absence of such BMT facilities has forced patients of Assam and other North-Eastern states to seek treatment outside. The cost of the transplant procedure is 60% to 70% lower than that of a private sector hospital in the country. Dr Nabajyoti Choudhury, transfusion medicine specialist, also offered technical support while collecting stem cells, further informs Dr Kataki.

Dr Asif Iqbal, Associate Professor of Haemato-Oncology Division of Medical Oncology at BBCI said, BMT involves multiple steps like, mobilization (procedure to release bone marrow stem cells into the blood), apheresis (procedure to extract the mobilized cells from the blood), conditioning (a lethal dose of chemotherapy that serves to eliminate the residual tumours cells), and finally transplant (infusion of the collected cells). After the transplant, the stem cells take about 10 to14 days to settle into the recipient's bone marrow and take over the function.

Also Read: COVID-19 restrictions delay cancer treatment in State: BBCI

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