Mother Donates Bone Marrow to Save 13-year-old Daughter suffering from Thalassemia

Hyderabad: A mother donated bone marrow to her 13-year-old daughter, suffering from Thalassemia major - class III through haploidentical stem cell transplantation. Thalassemia major is an inherited blood disease wherein the lifespan of red blood cells would be lower than normal; hence they need every month blood transfusion lifelong. Frequent blood transfusion can lead to transfusion-related complications, like viral infections like Hepatitis and HIV etc. and Iron overload which leads to organ damage e.g., Heart and Liver and also, they have long-term growth-related problems.

The patient is based out of Vizag and has been on regular blood transfusion and chelation therapy since the age of 8 months. The patient was referred to American Oncology Institute (AOI), Hyderabad, for treatment by Pediatric-Hemato -Oncologist and BMT Specialist Dr C.S. Ranjith Kumar. After further evaluation and investigation, she underwent vigorous chelation for high iron in the body. The mother (32-year-old) was recommended as donor for haploidentical stem cell transplantation. Haploidentical (often shortened to ‘haplo’) transplant uses a family member whose HLA matching is less than 100%. Children are always a half-match to their biological parents, and vice versa.

India has a huge burden with an estimated 100,000 patients with a β thalassemia syndrome. Few among them are optimally managed, and allogeneic stem cell transplants are unaffordable for most of the families. The only curative treatment currently for thalassemia is Allogenic Stem Cell transplantation, and reasonable age is between 4-7yrs. With increasing age, the complications related to transplants are high making patients unfit for transplantation.

Dr Prabhakar P, Regional Chief Operating Officer, American Oncology Institute (AOI), said, “The number of patients seeking BMT in India has increased over the last five years. Pediatric BMT outcomes are also improving. Highly experienced pediatric Hemato Oncologist are needed to improve outcomes. Supported with extensive training, experience, and state-of-the-art technology, AOI has an incredible team of highly skilled specialists to deal with complicated pediatric BMT cases. AOI is committed to offering best-in-class clinical expertise, technological superiority, and service excellence to our patients in South Asia. AOI stands at the forefront of treatment excellence offering precision cancer care for all types of cancers across all age groups.”