BLK has performed more than 650 Bone Marrow Transplants within a short span of 4 years, at a success rate of over 80%, which is at par with world’s best. The Centre attracts transplant patients not only from India, but also from countries like Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Kenya, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Nepal. Today, more than 50% of the patients arrive from different parts of the world.

“In recent years, there have been dramatic breakthroughs in the field of Haematology and Stem Cell Transplant, the latest being treatment through Haploidentical Transplantation technique which virtually eliminates the waiting period for people who need Bone Marrow Transplants on urgent basis. Through this procedure, even if a donor's tissues are only half identical with those of a recipient’s, it works just as well as a complete match. The donor in this case may be the recipient's parent, sibling, child or a family member,” said Dr. Choudhary.

In this transplant program, patients are first put though few days of Chemotherapy / Immunotherapy or Radiotherapy as per the condition of the patient before transplantation, just enough to suppress their immune system without causing any harm to their organs. On the day of the procedure, Haploidentical donor have their stem cells collected either through Bone Marrow or Peripheral Blood.



THE CASE

Rahul is a young IITian who was working with HCL, Bangalore when he was first diagnosed with Plasma Cell Leukaemia and had undergone Autologous Stem Cell Transplant which relapsed in just 3-4 months post transplant. The disease was very aggressive and in search of cure he had visited various hospitals in the country. Rahul was completely unaware about the treatment that would suit his condition the best. Morever, finding a donor was an even bigger challenge. All national and international registries were checked but he could not find the matching donor for transplant. Finally, he got to know about Dr. Choudhary and decided to contact him.

THE PROCEDURE

Dr. Choudhary suggested half-match or Haploidentical Stem Cell Transplant as a treatment option to him. In his family, only his father and sister were his half match. After a few tests and deliberations, his sister was selected as the donor. Rahul underwent the transplant procedure and much to everyone's relief, it was a success.

THE RECOVERY

Six months after the surgery, Rahul is currently asymptomatic and doing fine. He has even started a group named Yoddhas which has several members who are cancer survivors. He counsels patients from all over the world about the treatment. He wishes to spread awareness about the disease and highlight the importance of timely treatment to the ones in need.

Dr. Dharma Choudhary
Director & Sr. Consultant
BLK Centre for
Bone Marrow Transplant
BLK Super Speciality Hospital

Asia’s largest and world’s fastest growing BMT centre

• 30 bedded Bone Marrow Transplant Unit

• 150 Thalassemic Major Patients Cured

• 50 Haploidentical Transplants

• Extracorporeal Photopheresis for GVHD