DMCH bone marrow transplant to start

10 patients suffering from cancer –multiple myeloma and lymphoma— have been selected and six of them were being prepared for the first set of transplants.

Health minister AFM Ruhal Haque unveiled the plaque of the sophisticated unit in a milestone event and said it has opened ‘a new horizon in Bangladesh’s medical science’. “Don’t do any short-cuts. Follow strictly what you learnt in your training in USA. This is very high-tech procedure. If you deviate, you will fall behind,” he told its trained personnel. The centre has been set up on the ninth floor of the new DMCH building, which was remodelled, with the help of the Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). MGH trained up its nurses and doctors while the government spent about Tk 200million for the whole project. Centre in-charge Prof MA Khan said they were expecting to start the first transplant on October 26 -- an autologous bone marrow transplant in which one’s own bone marrow is used. “It’ll depend on the bone marrow collection. We have already started the collection,” he said . Khan said they had selected 10 patients suffering from cancer –multiple myeloma and lymphoma— and six of them were being prepared for the first set of transplants. In bone marrow transplantation, doctors replace damaged or destroyed bone marrow – the soft and spongy tissue inside bones – with healthy bone marrow stem cells to treat different types of blood cancer, certain genetic blood and immunity disorders like thalassemia, and severe aplastic anaemia. There are no official data about people needing bone marrow transplants in Bangladesh but doctors say many go abroad for this replacement. But the costs in Bangladesh will be at less than one-third of what it costs outside. The in-charge Prof Khan said for autologous procedure the hospital will charge between Tk 0.5 million and 0.6 million while for the allogeneic in which bone marrow of siblings or donors are used would be between Tk 1 million and 1.5 million depending on patients. The second procedure, allogeneic, is more critical that he expects will be able to start after six months. The centre will appeal to the affluent people to donate for the centre so that the facility can help poor and maintain standards. It has five isolated cabins where five patients can be treated at a time. A patient will need to spend at least three weeks after the transplant, doctors say.