What do you mean by Bone Marrow Transplantation?
Let’s get back to basics, shall we? As we know that bone marrow is a highly specialized tissue which performs the important function of growth and differentiation of blood cells.
Bone marrow transplantation is a process in which a patient with diseased bone marrow receives a healthy marrow tissue from a donor. It is a very common procedure which is being performed by all leading private and public hospitals in India. Our doctors are very skilled and competent in bone marrow transplantation.
Why is the Bone Marrow Transplantation done?
Bone marrow tissue consists of blood cells and stem cells in their various stages of development. Stem cells have the capability of turning into any types of cells and tissue when stimulated with certain growth factors. After the growth and differentiation of these stem cells, the matured blood cells are released into the bloodstream.
In certain individuals, the BM is defective either due to certain genetic or congenital diseases such as sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, hurler’s syndrome etc. Also, it does not function properly in certain blood cancers such as aplastic anemia, leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma etc.
Bone marrow transplantation provided done correctly, is considered to be a cure for many of these disorders.
How does Bone Marrow Transplantation work?
Due to certain types of cancer, there is excessive proliferation of certain lineages of the myeloid and lymphoid cells. This abnormal proliferation of immature blood cells hampers the normal functioning of the other cells. This results in the deficiency of other types of blood cells and as a result, these cause the symptoms.
Also, chemotherapy is highly toxic to the bone marrow. So, many cancer patients have prescribed the transplantation procedure usually before and after the cancer treatment.
When the patient’s bone marrow is replaced by a healthier one (after doing appropriate pre-operative matching), it starts performing the regular routine functions. This transplantation procedure is being done for many years and has shown excellent results in patients.
The donor can either be the patient himself (autologous), or some relative or an unknown donor (allogeneic), or patient’s identical twin (syngeneic).
What is the success rate for Bone Marrow Transplantation?
Transplantation is a common procedure with high chances of survival. A patient who has undergone the procedure and is doing fine after 5 years without any complications is expected to live an additional 15 years as compared to the survival rate of the disease condition.
In recent studies, it has been observed that the success rate for an allogeneic bone marrow transplant is around 60-62%, which in medical world is pretty good. It is also found that around three out of every four patients survive the bone marrow transplantation.
Nowadays, there is a specific protocol for every procedure which is being followed by a hospital. Thus, the patient receives same quality of care from all the healthcare professionals.
What are the complications associated with the Bone Marrow Transplantation?
The first year is very important for BMT patients as this is the time most complications occur.
One of the most severe and important complications associated with the transplant is its tendency for rejection. This results in a cascade of complications known as the “Graft vs Host Disease”. This occurs due to the improper matching of the Human Leukocyte Antigen of the donor and the recipient tissue.
The patient is also severely immunocompromised due to the ongoing chemo and the radiotherapies so as a result, transplanting a new tissue into the human body makes it prone to infections.
BloodCancerCure is the world’s first such organization working 24*7 on helping blood cancer patients. BloodCancerCure works for patients across the world by providing the lowest cost for bone marrow transplants, chemotherapy, and Bone marrow test. You can contact at +91-8448533753 to talk to our experts at BloodCancerCure for BMT treatment in India.