Bone Marrow Transplant in India

A bone marrow transplant (BMT), also called a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), replaces damaged or diseased bone marrow with healthy blood-forming stem cells. It is used to treat certain blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, and non-cancerous conditions such as thalassemia and aplastic anemia. There are two main types: autologous, using the patient's own stem cells, and allogeneic, using stem cells from a donor.

Autologous transplant

In an autologous transplant, the patient's own stem cells are collected and stored before high-dose chemotherapy, which destroys the diseased marrow along with the cancer. The stored stem cells are then infused back to rebuild healthy marrow. Because there's no donor to match, this type generally has a more predictable process and lower cost.

Allogeneic transplant

In an allogeneic transplant, stem cells come from a donor, ideally a fully HLA-matched sibling, or otherwise a matched unrelated donor or a partially matched (haploidentical) family donor. The degree of donor match significantly affects both the cost and the process: a matched sibling donor is the most straightforward and least expensive, a haploidentical (half-matched) donor requires additional preparation, and an unrelated donor found through a registry search adds both time and cost. Allogeneic transplants carry a risk of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), where the donor's immune cells react against the patient's body, which is monitored and managed closely after transplant.

What the transplant can and cannot do

A successful transplant restores the body's ability to produce healthy blood cells and, for cancer patients, is often the treatment most likely to achieve long-term remission. It is a demanding process: the weeks around transplant carry real risks, including infection, bleeding, and GvHD, and require careful hospital monitoring, which is why the stay is longer than with most surgical procedures.