Lucknow :

A 38-year-old blood cancer patient has become the first patient to undergo a successful stem cell transplant at KGMU.

The transplant was carried out by the clinical hematology department with support from departments of pathology and blood transfusion. The patient, Panne Lal of Sant Kabirnagar, will be discharged by Saturday.

Lal was diagnosed with blood cancer about 18 months ago.

After initial treatment, his condition relapsed within a year. “We planned a repeat therapy followed by stem cell transplant. He was first given growth factor that increased the stem cells present in his bone marrow which then flowed in his blood after five days. The stem cells were then extracted from his blood through a machine and then injected back,” said head of the clinical hematology department, Prof AK Tripathi.

The white blood count (WBC) levels of Lal that had dropped to around 50, then reached within normal limits of 4,000 -11,000 within 10 days.

“In a private setup the transplant costs around Rs 12 lakh, while here it cost around Rs 2 lakh.

But Lal has been treated for free since he cannot afford the surgery cost. The chances of success in this method are 98% with mortality rate of just 1%. Chances of relapse are also bleak since it is the body’s own stem cells that are used for treatment,” added Prof Tripathi.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News> Civic Issues / TNN / March 29th, 2018