Can Bone Marrow Transplant Treat All Types of Blood Diseases?
05/27/2024
The Bone Marrow is the soft, spongy tissue found in the center of bones. It is responsible for producing different types of blood cells, each with its unique function. A bone marrow transplant is a medical procedure where damaged bone marrow is replaced with healthy stem cells. Bone marrow can become damaged due to various blood cancers, infections, and autoimmune diseases. In these cases, healthy stem cells are transferred from a healthy donor to help combat the disease.
Includes autologous, allogeneic, and haploidentical transplants for cancer and blood disorders.
The Cost of Bone Marrow Transplant in India ranges from โน 11,20,000 to โน 13,70,000. The cost can vary according to the type of transplant, the experience of a surgeon, and the facilities provided by the hospitals. The management of side effects of this treatment can also affect the cost.
Some of the important bone marrow transplant procedures are:
In this type of transplant, doctors remove the patientโs bone marrow and save the stem cells to use it later. This usually happens when a person needs to go under chemotherapy treatment, which destroys the stem cells and reduces the immunity. After the chemotherapy, the bone marrow transplant to the patient to form a new healthy stem cell and restore function.
In this type of transplant, the bone marrow cells are removed from the other person who will be the donor and whose blood antigens match the patient. The stem cells from donors given to the patient after chemotherapy or radiation therapy to restore the normal bone marrowโs function. The matching donor can be any first degree relative with the same human leukocyte antigen (HLA).
Umbilical cord is present in pregnant mothers which connects them with their baby in the uterine life. After delivery the umbilical cord was removed as there is no need for that anymore. The use of that umbilical cord blood to transplant the stem cells is the new advanced procedure to restore function of the bone marrow in diseased persons.
The stem cells from the parents and siblings are sometimes only given a match of fifty percent. The use of these unmatched stem cells is now being used clinically to cure the diseased bone marrow. This can cause some complications but the procedure is selected only after weighing the pros and cons. To use this treatment, the benefits should be more than the side effects after receiving the treatment.
This procedure collects the stem cells before the chemotherapy treatment. Then it is stored for a duration of chemotherapy treatment. Then after the chemotherapy ends, doctors infuse the stem cells which were previously stored. Then the proper screening will be required to check the recovery of the healthy stem cell growth.
The first step is the identification of a donor which matches the receiver. After that stem cells collect from the donor either from the blood of the donor or the bone marrow and store for the duration of chemotherapy treatment. After the chemotherapy sessions end, the stem cells from the donor are injected to the patient. In the recovery phase, antibiotics are also required to decrease the chances of infections.
In India, the Cost of a Bone Marrow Transplant starts from โน 11,20,000 to โน 13,70,000. However, bone marrow transplant prices in India may vary according to the type of facility, patient condition, and general health.
The little amount may vary according to the doctorsโ experience and facilities provided by the hospitals.
There are some of the diseases that may require bone marrow transplant for the treatment. Some of the diseases are:
Graft versus Host disease ( the donorsโ stem cells begin to destroy the healthy cells in the body).
Some of the side effects are present in both of these treatment procedures and may not be present in all the patients. So it may vary from individual to individual.
Hematologists and oncologists experienced in bone marrow transplantation.
NABH-accredited transplant units with HLA-matching and infection control protocols.
Some of the commonly observed signs and symptoms are: Joint pain, Muscle pain, Breathlessness, Cough, Dry eyes, Scarring on the skin, Rashes, Yellow tint in sclera of the eye, Dry mouth and Sores in the mouth
The survival rates after a bone marrow transplant can vary considerably from case to case. For example, Survival rates for a person with non-malignant condition are 70-90% if he gets donor cells from a related sibling and 36-65% if the donor cells are taken from an unrelated donor.
It may be 3-4 weeks according to the procedure performed on the patient.