Chandigarh Jan. 20,
2021:- To Create awareness on “Blood
Cancers and options of Bone Marrow Transplant in North India“ a team of
Doctors from Paras Hospitals Panchkula addressed the media person today.
Present on the occasion were Dr ( Brig) Ajay Sharma - Director & HOD
Hematology, Dr ( Brig) Rajeshwar Singh - Director Medical Oncology & Dr
Deepak Singla-,Consultant Medical Oncology, from Paras Hospitals
Panchkula.
Speaking on the occasion Dr Ajay
Sharma apprised that Bone Marrow Transplant is a non surgical procedure in which
damaged or diseased stem cells are replaced with healthy stem cells. This
complex procedure is performed in very Few Hospitals in India even though
the success rate for bone marrow transplants in India is at par with
international benchmarks. He shared that India is having 3rd highest number of
Hematological cancers in World, after US & China and India is likely to
have 1.17 Lac new cases of Blood cancers every year.
A bone marrow transplant is usually
offered as a solution for certain kinds of cancers as well as some other
diseases which affect the production of blood cells. Dr Ajay Sharma also shared
that every big city in the United States has 2-3 BMT canters”. In comparison,
India, with five times its population, has just handful of hospitals which
offer Bone Marrow Transplant, as such It isn't just the disease that kills most
blood cancer patients in India – it's the wait. Another irony is that on a
population of 125 Crs India has very few Specialists, who are trained for
BMT.
Dr Ajay Sharma also said that Paras
Hospital would be the first private sector Hospital in Chandigarh Tricity
Region, to start Allogenic as well as Autologous Bone Marrow Transplant.
Also, the Center will be conducting Unrelated and haplo- identical matches
BMTs. The latter are needed when a matched donor is not available in the
family.
Speaking on this occasion, Dr
Rajeshwar Singh said that Bone marrow transplant is the only treatment which
can result in the long-time survival in patients of Refractory Blood cancer”
which do not respond on chemotherapy drugs. He apprised the Media people that
there are about 65000 -67000 Thalassemia Major patients in India and every year
9000- 10000 new cases of Thalassemia diagnosed in India every year and BTM is
the treatment of choice for Thalassemia cases. In BMT procedure, the diseased
or damaged bone marrow (a soft, spongy blood forming tissue present in the
cavities of bones) is replaced with healthy bone marrow with the replacement
marrow mostly from blood relations like brother/sister and parents.
Dr(
Brig) Rajeshwar further highlighted that major Indications for Bone Marrow
Transplant are : Thalassemia, Aplastic Anemia, Acute Leukemia, Sickle Cell
Anemia, Lymphoma, Multiple Myloma & Myelodysplastic syndrome.
On the occasion, Ashish Chadha,
Facility Director – Paras Hospitals Panchkula shared that Pars Hospital
Panchkula is going to offer complete spectrum of Bone Marrow transplant
services, including Autologus & Allogenic Transplant under one roof and
patients of Tricity, Haryana, Himachal & Punjab would be extremely
benefitted with our BMT services. He also shared that Max Hospital Shalimarbagh
in on panel of Haryana Govt, Himachal Govt , CGHS, All Major TPAs &
Corporates where by Patients get Cashless treatment/ Reimbursement for all type
of Cancer Treatment at Paras.
The main objective of a bone marrow
transplant is to cure various diseases and cancer. It may also be required when
a person's bone marrow has been damaged or destroyed due to a disease or
intense treatments of radiation or chemotherapy for cancer. A bone marrow
transplant may be used to:
Replace non-functioning bone marrow
with a healthy functioning bone marrow. It is generally done in conditions such
as leukemia, Aplastic Anemia, Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Anemia.
Replace the bone marrow when a high
dose of chemotherapy or radiation is given to treat a malignancy and then it is
restored for its normal function. This procedure may be done for diseases such
as Lymphoma, Neuroblastoma and Breast Cancer.
Replace bone marrow to prevent it
from a genetic disease process such as Hurler's syndrome, and
Adrenoleukodystrophy
