Every year, over one lakh people are diagnosed with blood cancer in India. Dr Sunil Bhat tells you the symptoms to look out for and how blood stem cell transplant can give patients a second chance at life
Blood cancer occurs when there is an abnormal blood cell growth which interrupts the normal blood cell functioning. When it comes to treating blood cancer, treatment depends on the type, age of the patient and stage of the cancer. However, the most common treatment includes chemotherapy, radiation and blood stem cell transplant.
Common symptoms:
Blood stem cell transplant to lead a longer life
Every year, over one lakh people are diagnosed with blood cancer in India. Most often blood cancer can be treated by administering chemotherapy. However, for patients who cannot be treated with a chemo, their only hope of survival is through a blood stem cell transplant. A blood stem cell transplant infuses healthy blood stem cells from a matching donor to the patient. Lymphoma, Leukemia, Myeloma and Hodgkin disease & other blood disorders such as Aplastic Anemia & Thalassemia can be treated with a blood stem cell transplant. A successful blood stem cell transplant in 70 per cent to 90 per cent of these patients may give them a second chance at life, depending on the disease condition and the donor type.
On registering as a potential blood stem cell donor
While lack of information is the biggest challenge faced by all potential blood stem cell donors today, multiple myths associated with blood stem cell donation pose a greater threat. These include a commonly believed notion that a few health risks are associated with the procedure; you are putting your life at risk by donating your blood stem cells etc.
A successful stem-cell transplant requires a perfect HLA type. There is a possibility of finding the perfect match from a donor of the same ethnicity. Sadly, patients of Indian ethnicity have a hard time in finding a match due to lack of potential donors.
Blood stem cell registries like DKMS-BMST help in unrelated donor transplant process that counsel donors, enroll donors, get their HLA typing done, facilitate search of the donors and later facilitate the blood stem cell collection and transplant. To reduce the gap and to ensure each blood cancer patient looking for a matching donor finds one, it is important to each of us to register as a potential blood stem cell donor.
Blood stem cell transplant during the pandemic
COVID-19 has definitely impacted healthcare delivery especially in blood cancer treatment. The virus poses a risk for blood cancer patients as they are immune deficient and are more prone to infection than any of us. We also see an impact on potential donor registration drives due to social distancing guidelines. This gap can be minimised by encouraging people to register online as potential donors and give patients suffering from Blood Cancer or other blood disorders like Thalassemia a second chance at life.
The writer is Director and Clinical Lead, Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Blood & Marrow Transplantation, Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre, Narayana Health City