PRESS RELEASE
BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION: A NEW HOPE FOR PATIENTS WITH BLOOD
DISORDERS/BLOOD CANCERS
Gulbarga 19th December, 2015: Senior Hematologists from Mazumdar Shaw Cancer
Center at Narayana Health City in Bangalore today showcased the efficacy of Bone Marrow
Transplant (BMT) as a treatment modality with over 80% success rate for curing cancerous
and genetic blood diseases.
Bone Marrow Transplant is a highly advanced procedure that involves transfusion of bone
marrow stem cells from a healthy donor to a patient. In the last few years, it has emerged
as an effective and long term cure for diseases such as Leukemia (Blood Cancer),
Thalassemia and Aplastic Anemia, which earlier were not curable. There are three sources
of donors from where the bone marrow can be collected – *related donor, matched
unrelated donor and haplo-identical donor.
Dr Nataraj KS, Consultant Hematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant at
Narayana Health City said, “Bone Marrow Transplant is the only curative option for
patients suffering from acute myeloid leukemia, Thalassemia or Aplastic Anaemia. The use of
a genetically matched donor has been associated with the best results. Currently more than
80% of blood cancers can be cured by bone marrow transplantation. But in patients who
doesn’t have genetically matched donors we can find genetically matched alternate unrelated
donors from registries. Still some patients who need transplantation but don’t have
appropriate donor half matched transplantations are being done successfully in our center”.
More than 500 bone marrow transplants done at Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Center
have helped patients to fight and win over blood cancers and other blood related
diseases. Among them a young boy from Gulbarga was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic
Syndrome (Pre cancerous disease) and underwent Matched Sibling donor transplantation
which was the only curative option. He has completed more than 1 ½ year now and is
doing well. He is going to school and performing all normal activities
Dr Nataraj KS, Consultant Haematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant at
Narayana Health City said, "BMT is effective and the only available curative option in a lot
of diseases among children ranging from immunodeficiency disorders to cancers. We have one
of the largest Asian experiences of BMTs in children especially using newer modalities such as
haplo-identical transplants using depletion techniques." He further added, “As per recent
data, childhood cancer contributes to less than 5% of the total cancer burden in India, with
approximately 45,000 children diagnosed with cancer every year. What is encouraging is that
75 to 80% of cancers in children can be cured if appropriate treatment is given”.
Among the diseases which can be cured with bone marrow transplantations, Leukemia is a
cancer of the blood cells which starts in the bone marrow. When a person is suffering from
leukemia, the bone marrow starts to produce abnormal white blood cells which are known
as leukemia cells. The treatment choices for leukemia include chemotherapy and bone
marrow transplantation.
Aplastic Anemia refers to a medical term for bone marrow failure, when the quantity of
each of the three blood cell types is much lower than normal. The symptoms are
unexplained infections (due to fewer white blood cells), unexpected bleeding (due to fewer
platelets) and fatigue (due to fewer red blood cells). The treatment for aplastic anemia
include blood transfusion, blood and marrow stem cell transplants.
* Notes to editor:
 Related donor – bone marrow stem cells from siblings
 Matched Unrelated donor – bone marrow stem cells from non-family members
 Haploidentical donor – bone marrow stem cells from parents, siblings and
children
About Narayana Health:
With all super-speciality tertiary care facilities that the medical world offers, Narayana Health is now a one-stop
healthcare destination for all.
From the first facility established in Bengaluru with approximately 225 operational beds in 2000, our Company has
grown to 56 facilities (which includes 55 facilities in India and 1 facility in the Cayman Islands operated by our
Company's associate company, Health City Cayman Islands Ltd.) with 5442 operational beds as on
December 08, 2015 and the potential to reach a capacity of up to 6,602 beds. As on December 08, 2015, our
Company had a network of 23 hospitals (multispeciality and superspeciality healthcare facilities which provide
tertiary care), 8 heart centres (superspeciality units which are set up in a third party hospital) and 24 primary care
facilities (including clinics and information centres), across a total of 31 cities, towns and villages in India. For
details, visit www.narayanahealth.org
About Narayana Health City, Bengaluru:
NH Health City is located in Bommasandra, Bengaluru, which comprises of Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences
(NICS), a superspecialty hospital for cardiology and cardiac surgery, and Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center (MSMC),
a multispecialty hospital for cancer care, neurology and neurosurgery, nephrology, urology, and houses what we
believe, is one of India's largest bone marrow transplant units. NH Health City operates a stem cell bank.
FOR INFORMATION TO EDITORS: SHORT NOTE ABOUT STEM CELL
TRANSPLANTATION
A stem cell or bone marrow transplant replaces damaged blood cells with healthy
ones. It can be used to treat conditions affecting the blood cells, such as thalassemia,
aplastic anemia, leukaemia and lymphoma.
Conditions that stem cell transplants can be used to treat include:





Severe aplastic anaemia (bone marrow failure)
Leukaemia – a type of cancer affecting white blood cells
Lymphoma – another type of cancer affecting white blood cells
Myeloma – cancer affecting cells called plasma cells
Certain blood, immune system and metabolic disorders – examples include sickle
cell anaemia, thalassaemia, severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) and Hurler
syndrome
What does a stem cell transplant involve?
A stem cell transplant can involve taking healthy stem cells from the blood or bone
marrow of one person, and transferring them to another person. This is called an
allogeneic transplant.
A stem cell transplant has five main stages. These are:
1. Tests and examinations – to assess your general level of health.
2. Harvesting – the process of obtaining the stem cells to be used in the
transplant, either from you or a donor.
3. Conditioning – treatment with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy to prepare
your body for the transplant.
4. Transplanting the stem cells
5. Recovery