Safdarjung performs first successful paediatric bone marrow transplant

New Delhi : The Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital has successfully conducted its first paediatric bone marrow transplant on a nine-year-old child who suffered from lymphoma.

Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system, which is part of the body’s germ-fighting network.

The transplant was conducted by doctors at the Division of the Paediatric Hematology Oncology (PHO) at Vardhman Mahavir Medical College (VMMC) and Safdarjung Hospital (SJH). Dr Ratan Gupta, head of Department of Paediatrics at the Safdarjung Hospital, said the child was diagnosed with high-risk relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma and came to the hospital two years back when he was treated with medicines and chemotherapy.

“He was cured that time. But after one year there was a relapse of the disease following which he was again brought to the hospital. So this time, the child received chemotherapy and ultimately underwent the bone marrow transplant which is the definitive treatment for such high-risk diseases,” Dr Gupta said.

Since the inception of this separate BMP unit in 2021, only adult transplants have been performed. This is the first time that a paediatric bone marrow transplant has been done at the hospital, Dr Gupta said. The entire procedure was performed free of cost. If performed at a private hospital, the minimum cost would have been Rs 10 to 12 lakh, Dr Gupta said.

The entire transplant procedure was led by Dr Prashant Prabhakar, assistant professor in the Department of Paediatrics. He has been trained in paediatric oncology and bone marrow transplant at AIIMS, Delhi. It was an autologous transplant as a part of the stem cells of the patient was taken out and cryo-preserved.

Subsequently the patient was given very high dose chemotherapy and then the preserved stem cells were re-infused in the patient. The procedure was carried out on August 2.

After successful engraftment, the patient was discharged on September 7 and will remain under close observation for the next two months, Dr Prabhakar said.