Narayana Hrudayalaya Tissue Bank & Stem Cell Research Centre has successfully treated four Thalassemia cases with stem cell therapy. The hospital was able to have access to matched sibling bone marrow donor to treat the three paediatric cases. It is one of the few facilities along with CMC Vellore in the country which has been able to effectively administer the therapy.

The sibling bone marrow was the source of the stem cells and which helped us to treat the children suffering from the dreaded haematological disease.

Another option for the treatment is stem cells sourced from cord blood obtained from the wasted placenta and umbilical cord at the time of childbirth. This is the most common source of stem cells which is proving its efficacy, Dr Prem Anand Nagaraja, chief executive officer, Narayana Hrudayalaya Tissue Bank and Stem Cell Research Centre, told Pharmabiz.

The hospital has managed to treat Shivaraj, a 7-year old patient of Thalassemia major whose  condition was permanently cured by a fully matched allogenic bone marrow transplantation obtained from his 13 year old sister Sreedevi. The second case was Lakshmi, a nine-year old girl with Fanconi’s anaemia who got cured after successful matched bone marrow transplantation from her elder sister Mythili, who is 14 years. The third case was Madesh a six-year old case of Thalassemia major who got cured by a bone marrow transplantation from his older brother Puneeth who is 12 years.

Now the hospital has two more cases who have not been able to get the matched sibling stem cell source. These include Mayur, a four-year old boy diagnosed to have Fanconi’s anaemia who is awaiting to receive the stem cell transfusion obtained from his to-be born sibling’s cord blood and be cured once and for all. Baby Shalini is a 7-month old infant diagnosed with Thalassemia major and is hoping to receive her older brother Sumukh’s cord blood stem cells to get herself cured. Sumukh’s cord blood was stored at the time of his birth, three years ago.

“These experiences now prove the therapeutic potential of bone marrow derived stem cells, from a matched donor. In the absence of such a matched donor, cord blood derived stem cells can help cure dreaded haematologicalllllll diseases like Thalassemia major, Aplanaemiaiaiaiaiaia, anaemiamiamiamiaemia and over 14 such other conditions,” pointed out Dr Sharat Damodar, Consultant Haematologist, Narayana Hrudayalaya.
 
The cost of treatment which spans for a month will be between Rs.6 and -Rs. 8 lakh which includes hospitalization, drugs and therapy. Some cases, the treatment cost will depend on the age and weight of the child and may be a bit higher, said Dr Nagaraja.
 
Narayana Hrudayalaya has initiated India’s first combined cord blood repository having both public and private banking facilities.
 
Newer indications for stem cell therapy are breast cancer, renal cell cancer, heart disease, spinal injury, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s. Research and clinical trials are on across the world to prove the success of cord blood stem cells in over 75 such disease conditions, stated Dr Nagaraja.