HYDERABAD: Suffering from consistent fever that failed to be cured by home remedies and local medical consultation, 12-year-old Shruti, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, a blood cancer. Doctors in Chittoor suggested prescribing a stem cell transplant as her lifeline. In the rarest of the incident, the girl received a donor and underwent treatment in Chennai enduring the pain of chemotherapy and the loss of hair.
Commemorating National Cancer Awareness Day, experts call for increased awareness of life-saving blood stem cell transplants for blood cancer patients. As only 0.04% of Indians are registered as stem cell donors, the chances of a patient finding a matching unrelated donor are one in a million.
Approximately 70,000 people are diagnosed with blood cancer annually. Leukaemia is the most prevalent type observed in almost half of the patients. A stem cell transplant has emerged as a promising treatment option.
Patrick Paul, CEO of DKMS BMST Foundation India said that to carry out this treatment, blood stem cells from a Human Leukocyte Antigen donor (HLA-matched) are needed. This procedure involves the infusion of donor stem cells-either from a related or unrelated donor-to replace faulty blood cells. The objective is to reset the immune system and halt the progression of the disease.
The infusion allows the stem cells to travel through the bloodstream and eventually find their way to the bone marrow, where they reside. These new blood stem cells increase in number and produce RBCs, WBCs, and platelets, replacing the patient’s diseased cells.
However, only 30% of diagnosed patients find a matching donor while the remaining 70% of the patients rely on the generosity of voluntary donors.