Press Coverage

Paras HMRI Hospital is the first hospital in the region to perform Autologous Bone Marrow Transplant.

Paras Cancer Center, Patna is the first cancer center in this region to have successfully performed the first autologous stem cell transplant in patient suffering from blood cancer (leukemia) setting new milestones in cancer care & treatment in Bihar & Eastern India.

The patient, some 8 months back was diagnosed with Leukemia or blood cancer which resulted in decreased production of normal blood cells leading to anemia & other critical symptoms. The patients presented himself with a hemoglobin of only 4 unit whereas the hemoglobin level in a normal male adult is between 13-17 g/dl.

The patient was started on chemotherapy to fight the disease however in the next 4 – 6 months of treatment the disease started to reoccur. The patient also stared developing zoster on his arms & body & all hopes of saving the patients was getting lost.

“The patient was not responding well to chemotherapy & the only viable option we saw was that of stem cell transplantation” added Dr Shreeniwas S Raut, the oncologist at Paras Cancer center who was treating the patient.

Stem cell transplant is a very costly procedure & is available at very select centers in India & given the poor prognosis of the patient, all hope was seeming lost.

“The prognosis of the patient was not very healthy as not only was his disease returning also he was developing zoster all over his body making treatment difficult for him.’ Recollects Dr Shreeniwas.” That is when our team of oncologist at the Paras Cancer Center decided over a tumor board meeting that we should help the patient undergo a stem cell transplantation at our center.”

Human bone marrow produces stem cells that produces the blood cells in our body. However in leukemia the bone marrow & other blood producing organs produce increased number of immature or abnormal leucocytes, which suppress the production of normal cells. In a stem cell transplant healthy stem cells are incorporated in the bone marrow to produce healthy blood cells.

Dr Shreeniwas further added” Because the patient was already developing zoster we were certain that if we were to do a stem cell transplant from a donor his body would reject the transplant. Therefore we decided to do a stem cell transplant from the patient’s own body.”

Termed as Autologous Stem Cell transplant, the process involves the transplant of the stem cell from the patient’s own body. The challenge is to separate the healthy stem cells from the patient’s body, eliminate the diseased cells & then reincorporate back the health cells back into the patient’s bone marrow.

“Autologous stem cell transplant involves a lot of careful evaluation & management by the doctor & the hospital.” Said Dr Ravi Shankar Singh, Zonal Director of Paras HMRI hospital. “Strict Isolation protocols, special process called Apheresis for stem cell collection, coordination among the departmental doctors, skilled staff to handle these procedures are some of the most important factors in undergoing this treatment. Fortunately at Paras HMRI we have a state of the art transfusion medicine department, dedicated team of Oncologist & infrastructure that helped us to undertake the transplant.”

“The patient successfully underwent the autologous stem cell transplant at Paras Cancer Center & after a brief stay at the hospital, he is doing better than before.” Added Dr Shreeniwas joyfully. “Our team is proud to have saved one more life when all hope was lost. This was only possible for the dedicated compassion of the entire Paras Cancer team members. We always encourage patients with cancer not to lose hope in their fight with cancer because Hope is the biggest healer of all & we believe Healing with hope at Paras Cancer is a true miracle.” Added Dr Shreeniwas.