Borivli centre celebrates 300 life-changing bone marrow transplants for children

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMCrun Comprehensive Thalassemia Care Pediatric Anemia Cancer and Bone Marrow Transplant Treatment Centre in Borivli East has achieved a significant milestone of completing 300 lifechanging bone marrow transplantations BMT for children since its establishment five years agoAccording to Dr Mamta Mangalani the director of the centre the facility offers free treatment to those who cannot afford the procedure thanks to donor contributionsUpon admission to the centre children undergo a comprehensive process involving tests donor identification and counselling for parents which may take around 1520 days ldquoWe have counsellors who take care of the emotional wellbeing of children and parents The doctors ensure to explain to the family what is happening as children may have to stay in isolation in a HEPAfiltered room post the procedurerdquo said Dr MangalaniAdditional Municipal Commissioner Western Suburbs Dr Sudhakar Shinde during a visit to the centre recentlySiblings are considered ideal donors for the BMT procedure Out of the 300 transplants performed 108 donors were complete matches including parents and siblings Additionally twelve transplants were obtained from unrelated donors matched through a stem cell donor registryAmong the patients 110 received bone marrow transplants using their own stem cells autologous transplants typically used for lymphoma cases costing about R8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh at private hospitals in Mumbai On the other hand allogeneic transplants involving the use of someone elsersquos stem cells can cost about Rs 17 to 18 lakh at private hospitals and in rare instances without a fullmatch donor it may cost about Rs 30 lakhDr Mukesh Agarwal former head of the paediatrics department at KEM hospital and professor head at KJ Somaiya Medical College emphasised that BMT is mainly conducted for thalassemia and leukaemia cases ldquoWhile anyone can donate bone marrow the donorrsquos HLA type must match that of the recipient to ensure a successful transplantrdquo he saidHLA Human Leukocyte Antigen helps identify specific proteins on the surface of our cells including bone marrow cells aiding the body in distinguishing between its natural inhabitants and foreign cellsRecipients of BMT need to take medications for their entire lives to prevent rejection of the transplantApart from the Borivli facility the BMC has two other facilities for transplants at Sion hospital and Tata hospital Dr Mohan Joshi Dean at Sion hospital revealed that about 25 paediatric bone marrow transplants are done at his hospital every year ldquoWe need to keep the patient in special rooms for 30 days after bone marrow transplantrdquo he saidThe hospital plans to expand the facility further in Dharavi at Eknathrao Gaikwad Hospital ldquoThen we will be able to do about 60 to 70 transplants per yearrdquo Dr Joshi said He added ldquoWe give chemotherapy drugs before the transplant That is what is important and risky Therefore they need to be managed in an absolute sterile room where there is no risk of infectionRs 8ndash10lakhCost of bone marrow transplant at pvt hospitals