There are various treatment options for Blood cancer. The treating doctor would suggest the best treatment for the patient or a combination of these depending upon the medical condition of the patient:

• Chemotherapy: This is considered as the main treatment for blood cancer.
• Radiation therapy: This is done to shrink the tumour mass which is compressing the important structure of the body. This is mainly employed in cases of localized disease.
• Biological therapy: In this, body uses its own immune system to destroy cancer cell. Biological agents like interferon, interleukins, tumour necrosis factors, monoclonal antibodies and colony stimulating factors are used as special immune system cells to stimulate the body's immune system so as to destroy and kill the cancerous cells.
• Bone marrow transplants: also known as the stem cell transplant is most frequently performed procedure for the treatment of leukaemia and lymphomas. In this the damaged bone marrow is replaced with the new and healthy one from either a donor or from your body. Bone marrow transplant can be performed in 3 ways
  • Autologous BMT: During Autologous bone marrow transplant, stem cells are removed from your body before undergoing the chemotherapy or radiation therapy and are preserved. After the chemo/radiation they are put back in the body to produce normal blood cells.
  • Allogenic BMT: During Allogenic Bone marrow transplant, stem cells are taken from the donor whose genes are partly matching yours like your brother or sister can be the best match for you.
  • Umbilical cord blood transplant: During umbilical cord blood transplant, stem cells are taken from the umbilical cord (which were preserved when the patient was born) and there is no need for matching.

Bone Marrow Transplant is a complex and major procedure. There are risks and complications associated with the procedure and the procedure is thus recommended to select few patients when other treatments have failed.

Bone Marrow Transplant is recommended if other treatments are not working and there is higher risk of the condition returning without the transplant. If the physician feels that the benefits of the transplant outweigh the risks associated with the procedure, bone marrow transplant is advised. The best candidates for bone marrow transplant are those in otherwise good health and have stem cells available from a sibling, or another family member, with the same tissue type.

• Physical examination to find if the patient is in a state to accept the Bone Marrow Transplant. Several tests are performed on the vital organs like lungs, kidneys, heart, and liver to make sure that the patient can accept the transplant.
• Stem cell harvesting from the donor- The process of harvesting the bone marrow cells remains the same regardless of the type of transplant- allogenic or autologous. This is done under general anaesthesia. At first, the needle is inserted into the cavity of the backside of hip bone or iliac crest and bone marrow is collected. This is the place where large quantity of bone marrow is present. The bone marrow is purged to remove any cancerous cells in case of autologous transplant or removed for T cells to prevent rejection in case of allogenic transplant and frozen at a temperature between ---80 to -196 degrees.
• Preparing the patient's body for transplant- this includes chemotherapy and/or radiation to kill cancerous cells and make place for the new bone marrow.
• Bone Marrow Transplantation- this is done 1-2 days after the last session of chemotherapy/ radiation therapy. During transplantation, the stem cells harvested are infused intravenously the same way as any blood product is given. A frequent check is kept on the patient for any signs of fever, chills, hives or chest pain. As the transplant is completed, the days of waiting begin.
• Check for complications or rejection- Two to four weeks after bone marrow transplant are most critical since high doses of chemotherapy/ radiotherapy have destroyed the patient's bone marrow, crippling body's immune system. Before the new marrow migrates to cavities of the large bones and begin to produce normal cells, the patient is quite susceptible to infection and excessive bleeding. Multiple antibiotics, blood transfusions, platelet transfusions are administered to the patient. In case of allogenic transplant, additional medications to prevent rejection are also given. Extraordinary precautions are taken to prevent infection. The patient is constantly monitored to check if engraftment has occurred or not and to monitor organ function. Once the healthy bone marrow begins to produce normal cells, transfusion is stopped.

Recovery after Bone Marrow Transplant is long and stressful, both physically and emotionally for the patient and family as well. First 100 days are critical, when there are high chances of complication or rejection of the transplant. Patient is carefully monitored during this span. Patient feels fatigued, weak and is unable to concentrate for first few weeks after the transplant. Full recovery may take up to a year or two.

Treatment outcomes after Bone Marrow Transplant have improved in years. It is a lifesaving procedure and a successful transplant helps save the life of a person which was otherwise not possible

You would need a total of 16-18 weeks in India for a Bone Marrow transplant operation and recovery before you can go back to your country.