- Three blood cancer patients with below eight per cent survival rate got back their life again at Apollo Cancer Institute, Hyderabad.
- The three patients, 37-year-old farmer Biswajit Saha, 31-year-old Kavitha and 22-year-old Prathima suffered from a rare stem cell dirorder that was gradually disintegrating the reb blood cells.
- A bone marrow transplant was successfully conducted on three of them.
- Biswajit Saha suffered from rare PNH (Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinura) which occurs hardly in 1 in 10 lakh people. His brother was a matching donor.
- Kavitha suffered from both Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Acute Lymphoid Leukemia.
- In Kavitha's case, no matching donor was found and the doctors had to settle down for a donor of a different blood group with 90 per cent match.
- Prathima suffered from aplastic anemia for three years and had low platelet count.
- As a suitable donor could not be found in her family, matching stem cells were airlifted from Germany within 24 hours and the transplant was performed.
- According to Dr. Padmaja Lokireddy, consultant, Haemato Oncology and Stem Cell Transplant, the three patients had the most complex blood disorders for which findind a donor became a bigger challenge.
- Post the bone marrow transplants, all the three patients has crossed 100 days that is considered as a milestone in the transplant process.
Source: Apollo Cancer Institute, Media Update