Bone Marrow Transplant nowadays is also known as Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation or HSCT in short. Also known as pluripotent stem cells, bone marrow is home to these specialized cells which normally play an important role in replenishing regular blood supply & for maintaining blood counts in healthy hosts. Stem cell transplantation generally refers to a procedure which involves replacing hematopoietic stem cells by new cells which have been harvested by the patient (autologous) or from another donor person (allogeneic) which will eventually grow into healthy hematopoietic system following bone marrow transplant.
Bone Marrow Transplant Types
There are a couple of common bone marrow transplant types which are listed below.
Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation
Predicted on a simple concept that when little chemotherapy can be beneficial then a lot could be even better, autologous BMT is extremely useful in diseases like lymphoma where lower doses are not usually helpful. Autologous BMT involves collection & freezing of the patient’s own stem cells prior to administering higher doses of chemotherapy. Typically, patients undergoing chemotherapy are normally assessed for HSCT at some point of time during treatment. This procedure includes evaluation of bone marrow in order to ensure healthy stem cells alongside adequate functioning of liver, lungs & heart. In case the patient qualifies for autologous BMT, stem cells are usually collected by a procedure known as apheresis & which are then stored for future use on completion of chemotherapy. Main advantage of autologous BMT is that since these stem cells are from the patient’s own body, there is absolutely no danger of graft versus host disease involving graft rejection. However, the immune system of the patient usually takes about 12 months of time to completely recover following autologous BMT.
Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation
Allogeneic BMT is predicted on the idea that when the immune system of the patient was not able to detect & destroy disease, maybe immune system from a donor which can either be a sibling or an unrelated person mount an immune response to overcome disease. The problem with allogeneic BMT is that while the transplanted donor immune system can recognize disease as foreign, it is also possible that it can recognize normal organs of the host as foreign & mount an attack which is termed Graft Versus Host Disease or GVHD in short. This is why immunosuppressant drugs are given to the allogeneic BMT patient for a considerable period of time. Due to a variety of associated complications allogeneic BMT patients walk a very fine line that is meant to assess individual risks & benefits of this type of stem cell transplant. HLA matching, which is quite different from blood typing, is essentially required to define proper allogeneic BMT donors.
Bone Marrow Transplant in India is a Money Saving Idea
With a vast network of highly reputed doctors & surgeons & advanced hospital care, medical procedures including bone marrow transplant in India is of world-class standard. Apart from the high international quality of healthcare, bone marrow transplant cost is unbelievably economical & just about a fraction of what it costs in developed western countries. In fact bone marrow transplant cost is one of the main driving factors which brings-in a growing number of overseas patients to India every year.
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