American Oncology Institute at Nagpur performs BMT on a patient from Madhya Pradesh

A case of Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) was successfully operated upon a patient at American Oncology Institute, Nagpur.

The patient, Ramesh (name changed), a 61-year-old came from Umariya in Madhya Pradesh with complaints of suffering from severe body pain, tiredness and shortness of breath for two months. With these problems, he came to Dr. A K Ganju, Hemato Oncologist in July 2017.

Initial evaluation showed that the patient had anaemia with low platelet count. On further evaluation and Bone Marrow examination, the patient was found to have multiple Myeloma (A type of blood cancer affecting plasma cells present in the bone marrow causing anaemia, low platelets, bone weakness and high levels of abnormal protein in the body). This condition is generally seen in the elderly population and is not curable. However, advances in medical management have made it possible to keep the disease at bay for prolonged periods of time.

Myeloma is managed like a chronic disease with multiple lines of treatment. Autologous Bone Marrow Transplant offers the best option to keep this disease under control. Before performing a transplant firstly, the disease burden must be brought to minimum with chemotherapy. Patient was started on chemotherapy in July 2017 and was continued with maintenance therapy. He was treated with multiple antimyeloma drugs and put into stringent remission; he was on maintenance treatment for last one year.

Performing a BMT requires state-of-the-art facility and a highly qualified team of doctors and nurses. With the infrastructure and manpower in place at American Oncology Institute at Nagpur, the patient was taken up for transplant in July 2019.

Performing a BMT is like formatting a computer and installing a new operating system. BMT basically has three parts. First, when the disease burden is at its lowest the stem cells from the patient (autologous) is collected from his peripheral blood using apheresis. This is like blood donation where in blood from patient’s body goes in a machine that separates the stem cells and collects them, later the remaining components are returned to the patient. Once adequate stem cells are collected patient is given a high dose of chemotherapy which is the second part of the treatment. This chemotherapy kills the remaining cancer cells which are hidden. But the dose being high, this chemotherapy also destroys the normal bone marrow.

The third part, which is the most challenging one involves supportive care which is basically preventing and treating the complications of high dose chemotherapy and supporting patient (with blood components) till the healthy stem cells that are transfused start producing normal blood cells on their own (engraftment). Once the transfused stem cells start producing normal cells the patient recovers and then is fit to be discharged from the transplant unit.

Dr A K Ganju, renowned Hemato Oncologist said that the patient underwent stem cell collection (apheresis) on 21^st July 2019 and was transferred inside the BMT unit on 22^nd July 2019. He received high dose chemotherapy on 22^nd July 2019, patient received stem cells infusion on 23^rd July 2019. Patient was on a 24-hour intensive monitoring in the transplant unit he successfully engrafted on day 10 post Stem cells infusion. He recovered from his complications and was shifted out of the transplant unit on day 15^th.

Dr A K Ganju thanked the team of doctors who help supported during the treatment process who include Dr Naresh Jadhav, Dr Nikhil Pande, Medical Oncologists, Dr Rani Lakhe, Intensivist, Dr Harish Werbhe, Pathologist along with the Medical Officers & nursing team of American Oncology Institute, Nagpur.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Sunil Sahasrabuddhe, Facility Director, American Oncology Institute, Nagpur said, “Traditionally, cancer has been considered a terminal ailment with uncertain prognosis and poor likelihood of survival. However, over the last few decades technology-driven improvements in diagnosis and treatment have significantly improved survival rates. With American university-level treatment processes and standards, American Oncology Institute along with the expertise of Dr A K Ganju is providing better quality outcomes through a multi-disciplinary care program backed by the latest technology, centralized radiation treatment planning and international standard cancer treatment protocols”.

With advanced treatment processes and standards, American Oncology Institute at Nagpur strives hard to provide better quality outcomes through a multi-disciplinary care program backed by the latest technology, and international standard treatment protocols.

About American Oncology Institute

American Oncology Institute brings to its network of super-specialty cancer hospitals in India and South Asia standardized cancer treatment protocols and pathways as followed in the leading Oncology centers in the US. American Oncology Institute operates Comprehensive care centers in Hyderabad, Hyderabad South, Jammu, Guntur, Vijayawada, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Hisar, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar and Sri Lanka is planning to open four more centers in the current year. American Oncology Institute plans to open 18-20 centers over a period of 3 years across multiple cities in India and South Asia including countries such as Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh to provide International standards of cancer care across India and South Asia.