Bone Marrow Transplant

Indications

The blood and bone marrow transplantation center at Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata, India has performed over 700 transplants with an excellent success rate. Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata, India is also a trusted name in BMT for international patients, as the hospital has not just a highly qualified BMT team, but also very stringent infection control norms which are critical for BMT patients.

Autologous Transplant (Stem Cells collected from one’s own body)

• Hodgkin’s & Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma: For relapsed / refractory cases, it is standard therapy
  and in most such cases, it is the only curative option.
• Myeloma: Although not curative, it is standard treatment as a part of initial therapy, as it prolongs
  survival substantially.
• Leukemia: Acute Myeloid Leukemia as part of consolidation therapy, to increase chance of cure in
  this disease.

Allogenic Transplant (Stem Cells collected from some one else’s body)

• Thalassemia
• Several other genetic disorders, especially with single gene defects
• Aplastic Anemia
• Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
• High Risk AML & Relapsed AML
• Relapsed ALL (Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia)
• As an option in several advanced or refractory haematological malignancies eg. follicular lymphoma, CLL, myeloma etc

Objective

The blood and bone marrow transplantation center at Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata has performed over 700 transplants with an excellent success rate. Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata is also a trusted name in BMT for international patients, as the hospital has not just a highly qualified BMT team, but also very stringent infection control norms which are critical for BMT patients. BMT treatment is available at Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata .

The procedure serves mainly 3 purposes

• Replacing a missing gene e.g. in Thalassemia, Sickle cell disease and many genetic disorders.
  These are diseases where the person is otherwise normal, except for one missing gene, and replacing
  that gene is curative.
• Allows use of high doses of anticancer therapies, which may lead to loss of bone marrow. Without
  stem cells support, marrow will recover only after a long time, resulting in high complication rate
  from infections or bleeding. Infused stem cells provide early recovery of blood cells. It considerably
  lowers the risk of low blood counts due to marrow suppression. Thus it is one form of “Supportive Therapy”
  and not a treatment of cancer by itself. This is the case in Autologous (self) transplant and in majority of Allogeneic transplants.
• Some “Graft versus Disease activity”, more commonly known as “Graft v Leukemia effect” in Allogeneic transplant, especially evident in chronic myeloid leukemia.

Process

The blood and bone marrow transplantation center at Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata, India has performed over 700 transplants with an excellent success rate. Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata, India is also a trusted name in BMT for international patients, as the hospital has not just a highly qualified BMT team, but also very stringent infection control norms which are critical for BMT patients. BMT treatment is available at Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata at Chennai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

What are Stem Cells?

Blood cells grow in the same way as other human cells. They develop in the bone marrow from a parent cell known as “stem cell”. These stem cells begin to divide and mature until they are fully developed, forming all the different types of blood cells : white cells, platelets and red blood cells. Stem cells are usually found inside the bone marrow spaces of large bones, however, they can also travel from bone to bone to other by way of blood system. A very small percentage of the white blood cells circulating through our veins are stem cells.

There is no surgery involved in Transplant, for the patient or donor. It is very safe procedure for a donor. Nothing is lost permanently in the body e.g. as in kidney Transplant. Stem cells regenerate in few days. For the same reason there are over 1 crore (10 million) volunteer donors for stem cell transplant in USA. Stem Cells are infused into the patient through a live Blood Transfusion.

Types

The blood and bone marrow transplantation center at Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata has performed over 700 transplants with an excellent success rate. Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata is also a trusted name in BMT for international patients, as the hospital has not just a highly qualified BMT team, but also very stringent infection control norms which are critical for BMT patients. BMT treatment is available at Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata .

Types

The Stem Cells can be collected from patient’s own body or can be harvested from another person. This other person is known as donor.

Autologous transplant

Stem cells are taken from the patient either by bone marrow harvest or apheresis (peripheral blood stem cells) and then given back to the patient after conditioning treatment.

Allogeneic transplant

The donor has the same HLA type as the patient. Stem cells are taken either by bone marrow harvest or apheresis (peripheral blood stem cells) from a HLA matched donor, usually a brother or sister. Other donors for allogeneic bone marrow transplants include the following:

• An identical twin – A syngeneic transplant is an allogeneic transplant from an identical twin. Identical twins are considered a complete genetic match for a transplant.
• Unrelated transplants (UBMT or MUD, for matched unrelated donor) – The HLA matched stem cells are from an unrelated donor, usually found through the national registries.
• Umbilical Cord Blood transplant – Stem cells are taken from an umbilical cord immediately after delivery of an infant. The stem cells are tested, typed, counted and frozen until they are ready to be transplanted.

Steps

Stem cell transplant is an exciting area of medicine. It is a well established treatment for several cancers and diseases of blood for the past few decades.

The blood and bone marrow transplantation center at Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata has performed over 700 transplants with an excellent success rate. Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata is also a trusted name in BMT for international patients, as the hospital has not just a highly qualified BMT team, but also very stringent infection control norms which are critical for BMT patients. BMT treatment is available at Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata .

There are three main steps in the transplantation process.
The first step is the collection of the bone marrow or stem cells (the harvest) from the donor. We now know that the umbilical cord blood is also a rich source of stem cells.
The second step is to completely destroy the existing bone marrow and thereby help the patient receive the new stem cells.The third step is to infuse the bone marrow or the stem cells through the intravenous route, like a blood transfusion. There may be no signs of a new bone marrow growing for two to three weeks, and occasionally it may be a few months before the new bone marrow produces all the components of the blood adequately.

Preparing for BMT

The blood and bone marrow transplantation center at Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata has performed over 700 transplants with an excellent success rate. Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata is also a trusted name in BMT for international patients, as the hospital has not just a highly qualified BMT team, but also very stringent infection control norms which are critical for BMT patients. BMT treatment is available at Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata .

Preparing for BMT

Having a transplant can be very demanding, physically and emotionally. It may help if patients can talk about their fears and concerns.

It is important to understand why one is having the transplant and what the actual processes will be, so that the patient can make practical arrangements and also prepare himself or herself mentally. It is a good idea to discuss the entire process with the doctors and nurses involved, before the patient goes into hospital.

Here are some questions one may like to ask:

• What are the benefits of the treatment?
• What are the risks of the treatment?
• How will the transplant affect the way I live?
• Will I be able to have children after a transplant?
• How long will it be before I can start leading a normal life again?
• What are the other treatments available to me?
• Can one predict how the disease will progress?
• Who can visit me?
• Will my treatment make me feel too unwell to see people?
• Is there a television in the room?
• Is there a telephone link in the room?
• Can I bring in my own clothes?
• What do you suggest that I bring to the hospital to make my stay more comfortable?
• Where can the attenders stay?

Being fully informed and prepared will help to make the transplant process easier for the patient and the family.

FAQs

The blood and bone marrow transplantation center at Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata has performed over 700 transplants with an excellent success rate. Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata is also a trusted name in BMT for international patients, as the hospital has not just a highly qualified BMT team, but also very stringent infection control norms which are critical for BMT patients. BMT treatment is available at Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals, Kolkata .