BENGALURU: The incidence of blood cancer or leukemia has gone up by 20 to 30 per cent over the past decade, and around 1 lakh people, including around 23,000 children, are diagnosed with the disease every year in India, while around 70,000 succumb to it. Haemotopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) treatment brings hope of a complete cure for 80 to 85 per cent of patients.
But in India, only 20 to 30 per cent of patients who need HSCT find a Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA) matching sibling donor. Finding the perfect match is rare in India. Registering as an HSCT donor can give a second chance to a leukemia patient. Of 39 million donors registered worldwide, only 5 lakh are Indians, said Dr Sunil Bhat, Director and Clinical Lead, Paediatric Haematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Mazumdar-Shaw Cancer Centre and Narayana Multispecialty Hospitals, Bengaluru. He said leukemia cases have gone up due to better diagnosis, change in lifestyle and diet, pollution, smoking and alcohol. At least 10 to 15 per cent of kids and 30 to 40 per cent of adults need blood stem cell transplant treatment, Dr Bhat said.
Proud saviours
It was a proud moment for 17-year-old leukemia survivor Ansh Ravindra Jadhav and six blood stem donors -- Dr Smitha Joshi, Kishore Ramji Surani, Suresh Verma, Sunil Narayan, Jitesh Kanchan and Praphul R. They converged at the World Blood Cancer Day event organised by DKMS - BMST Foundation from different parts of the country.
Meghana Ravindra Jadhav shared, “Life was all well until my 12 year old son Ansh Ravindra Jadhav was diagnosed with Leukemia in September 2017 in Mumbai, but a chartered accountant from Bengaluru who had registered as donor, donated blood cells on 10 April 2018. And today my son is completely cured and continuing his education,” she shared. Donors Dr Smitha Joshi shared her mom suffered cancer and Kishore Ramji Surani shared his son suffered cancer, so they registered as donors.
And donor Suresh Verma shared, that though he registered in his college, since he was worried of injections, he and his parents anxious to donate when he got call for donation, but it was a simple procedure and now he and his family feel proud that he had privilege to save a life, he said. Donor Sunil Narayan shared it was an emotional moment to meet the recipient who is a nurse, and who is saving many lives now. Jitesh Kanchan, Praphul R said, “if we have chance to save another life, why not?,” he said.