Bone marrow transplantation: Girl gets new life

A nine-year-old girl of the city has got a new lease of life after undergoing a halpo-identical bone marrow transplantation.

Syeda was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of blood cancer, in 2015 and was treated at a hospital in Bengaluru. The disease relapsed in 2017 and by this time, the family was exhausted. The search for quality treatment brought the family to Narayana Health City, Bengaluru.

According to the doctor who treated her, the outcome of relapsed leukemia is known to be dismal. The treatment was again started with an intensive chemotherapy regimen and after three cycles of chemotherapy, her disease was under control. Next was the search for a matching donor to conduct a bone marrow transplant. However, no fully matched donor could be identified in the family or elsewhere. The only solution was to conduct half matched or halpo-identical transplant and in her case, her father became the donor.

Speaking about the case, Dr Sunil Bhat, head, Paediatric Oncology, Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplant at Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre, Narayana Health City, said the outcome of relapsed leukemia is dismal and most of the patients in such cases do not survive.

He said, “We are glad that the girl is among the successful ones. Halpo-identical transplants are very complex and difficult in nature and for most of the people who can't find a matching donor, this technique comes as a blessing".

The girl’s parents said their daughter was very young to understand and express her pain, miseries and the relapse was a shock to the family.

Her father said, "Dr Sunil Bhat and his team came to our life like a ray of hope and today, my daughter is recovering very well and I am glad to see her live and enjoy life like a normal kid. It has been over a year now after the transplant and she is leading a healthy life".