Bone Marrow Transplant patient reunion at Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute

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The event was done in collaboration with Cancer Sahyog, the emotional support group of Indian Cancer Society.

In the run-up-to World Cancer Day on February 04, a reunion of Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) patients was organised by Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute. In a first-of-its-kind exercise, around 40 patients who successfully underwent bone marrow transplants in 2011 at RGCI assembled along with their families to spread the message Blood cancer is curable.

The event was done in collaboration with Cancer Sahyog, the emotional support group of Indian Cancer Society.

“Post-operative period is as critical as the bone marrow transplant itself. After a bone marrow transplant, it may take a year or more for immune system to recover. A weakened immune system increases the risk of infection that can be serious or even life threatening”, said Dr Dinesh Bhurani, Sr Consultant, Bone Marrow Transplant at RGCI.

“This get-together was aimed at equipping the patients and their families with right information so that they are able to face the challenging phase in their lives successfully. The get-together also led to a feeling of bonhomie between patients and they benefitted a lot from sharing of their experiences”, added Dr Bhurani.

The get-together saw patients from even Afghanistan and Nepal participating in the event.

Blood cancer is one of the most dreaded cancers. However Bone Marrow Transplant has emerged as an effective treatment.

Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute was amongst the first in the country to introduce Bone Marrow Transplant in 2001. In the year 2011, RGCI became first institute in North India to perform more than 50 transplants in a year. Besides different states of India, these patients also belonged to neighboring countries such as Kenya, Afghanistan, Nepal, Iran and UAE.

The bone marrow transplant team of Dr Dinesh Bhurani (Sr Consultant), Dr Gauri Kapoor (Sr Consultant-Pediatric), Dr Shishir Seth (Consultant), Dr Narendra Agrawal (Consultant) and Dr Sandeep Jain (Consultant) has undertaken a large number of Bone Marrow Transplant successfully in recent years.

Bone Marrow transplant is also done in cases of Thalassemia and Aplastic anemia. Out of 53 BMTs done last year, 2 and 5 cases were of Thalassemia and Aplastic anemia respectively.

“Cost is a major concern in Bone Marrow Transplant. We are providing this facility at most economical way. The results of transplants are at par with international standards”, said Dr Shishir Seth.

Dr A K Dewan, Medical Director RGCI, Mr D.S. Negi, CEO, RGCI, Dr S. K. Aggarwal, HOD-Medicine, ESI Hospital, Basai-Darapur, Dr J.S. Arora, General Secretary -The National Thalassemia Welfare Society and Mr RaghuRajagopal, CEO-DATRI also spoke on the occasion.