Saving Sakunthala

BGS Global Hospitals - a unit of Global Hospitals Group, successfully performed a Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT), on 33-year-old Sakunthala from Colombo who was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (Blood Cancer), giving her a new lease of life.

Sakunthala, was referred to BGS Global Hospitals - Super Specialty Quaternary Care, at Bangalore - and was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (Blood Cancer). She was advised to undergo BMT. With the stem cells of her 35-year-old sibling, she successfully underwent Allogenic Bone Marrow Transplantation by a team of BMT Physicians. She has responded well to the treatment and is on follow up now.

Dr Sachin Jadhav, Head, Haematology & Bone Marrow Transplantation, BGS Global Hospitals, said, "There have been advancements in the treatment of cancer. Bone Marrow Transplant has less toxicity than earlier and has improved the quality of life for patients post treatment. Several new types of Bone Marrow Transplant are emerging like Mini Allogeneic Transplantation, Bloodless Autologus Transplantation and Haploidentical Transplantation. Solid tumors, leukemia's and lymphomas are being cured by using BMT as a modality."

Bone Marrow Transplantation:

A bone marrow transplant (BMT), also called a stem cell transplant, is a procedure in which diseased or damaged bone marrow cells are replaced with healthy ones.

This procedure is performed after a patient has high-dose chemotherapy or radiation. Conditions successfully treated with BMT include cancers, such as leukaemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and solid tumours, as well as aplastic anaemia. What is an allogeneic bone marrow transplantation ?

In an allogeneic transplant, stem cells are donated to the person from another person, a genetically matched stem cell donor. This is usually a family member, a brother or sister with the same tissue type. Where no sibling is available, a search is made to find the donors. Sometimes there is a slight mismatch between the tissue type of the donor (usually a family member) and the person, but they may still be the best possible match.