Stem cell transplant helps in treating blood cancer as well as non-malignant blood disorders and there is a need for more awareness among people to donate stem cells, said doctors and organisations working in the field.
“Stem cell transplant can be used in treating patients with blood cancer, thalassaemia and aplastic anaemia, a condition in which the body is unable to produce adequate amount of blood,” said Jeevan Kumar, senior consultant, department of clinical haematology and bone marrow transplant, Tata Medical Center.
Thalassaemia patients, he said, need blood transfusion every 20 days.
“Stem cell transplant is the only option to cure thalassaemia,” said Kumar.
The challenge for patients needing stem cell transplant is to find HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen)-matching donors within their families or outside.
Donor availability is a problem as families are shrinking and most families have only one or two children, Kumar said.
“To donate stem cells, certain characteristics of the donor and patients should match, which is called HLA. However, only a fraction of patients will find an HLA-matched donor within the family. In about 70-80 per cent of the cases, patients look for a matched unrelated donor.... India has one of the highest ratios of searches that do not result in transplantation. This gap can be bridged only when more and more people from different ethnicities in India are part of the donor registry maintained by organisations,” said Kumar.
To raise awareness about the significance of blood stem cell donation and motivate young individuals to register as potential life-savers, DKMS BMST Foundation India (Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei- Bangalore Medical Services Trust) collaborated with Rotary District 3291 and Rotary Club of Calcutta Visionaries to spread awareness about the importance of stem cell transplantation for blood cancer and blood disorder patients on Sunday.
During the programme at ICCR, a mother made an appeal to the audience to register as donors.
The woman’s daughter was diagnosed with thalassaemia when she was nine months old and they found a matching donor after a year.
The girl, eight years now, is leading a normal life. Apart from studies, she has a keen interest in dancing and drawing.
“We try to raise awareness about stem cell transplant. Those who are ready, we do a swab test from the cheek wall and include their names in our registry to be accessed by doctors. If a matching donor is found, we take the consent of the donor and then the procedure of stem cell donation follows,” said Resham Ghosh, regional coordinator, east, DKMS BMST Foundation India.
Deepak Agarwal, president of Rotary Club of Calcutta Visionaries, said: “We urge the young people especially to understand the importance of blood stem cell transplant in saving lives and come forward and register themselves.”
