Meet on stem cell donation held in Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam: Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT), widely known as Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT), is a curative modality for a number of benign and malignant blood disorders, Mahatma Gandhi Cancer Hospital & Research Institute (MGCHRI) managing director and surgical oncologist V Murali Krishna has said.

Addressing the gathering at the blood stem cell donation awareness programme organised by MGCHRI in association with Datri Blood Stem Cell Donor Registry here on Saturday, he said that apart from the benign conditions, acute leukemia and few other blood cancers also require HSCT.

Even to treat thalassemia major, sickle cell anemia and aplastic anemia, HSCT is the treatment of choice, the surgical oncologist stated. He noted that there is a wide gap between establishing a diagnosis and obtaining standardised treatment.

"This is mostly due to financial constraints and non-availability of matched donor. It is estimated that about 12,000 new thalassemics are born annually in India, of which only 30 per cent might have suitable donors available for HSCT," Murali Krishna said.

For a successful hematopoietic stem cell transplant, he said the patient's genetic typing (HLA Typing) needs to closely match with that of the donor. "Every patient has a 25 per cent chance of finding a match within the family. However, the rest of the patients do not find a suitable donor within the family.

In such cases, there is a need to find an unrelated donor. There are over 80 donor registries and more than 30 million registered donors across the globe, with a very few Indians being a part of it. This reduces the chances of finding a possible match for a patient of Indian origin," Murali Krishna shared.

About 320 people came forward to register for stem cell donation. MGCHRI and Datri Blood Stem Cell Donor Registry launched blood stem cell collection centre at the hospital. A donor meet was also formed as part of the event inaugurated by VMRDA Chairman Dronamraju Srinvasa Rao. Datri founder Raja Gopal and entrepreneur Rana Uppalpati, among others spoke.