SCB conducts bone marrow transplant on 2-yr-old with 4-yr-old sister donor

IN an achievement that opens new frontiers in treatment of pediatric blood cancers and other blood diseases, doctors at the clinical hematology department of SCB medical college and hospital here have successfully conducted bone marrow transplant (BMT) on a two-year-old baby girl suffering from acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Cuttack

While she has become the youngest patient to undergo BMT in the state, the stem cell donor, her elder sister, is also just four years old.

The patient, Aliza Naaz, daughter of Shahrukh Ansari of Dhanbad in Jharkhand, was diagnosed with AML at Tata Memorial Hospital, Jamshedpur, in August last year. She underwent chemotherapy, but the disease persisted. With her condition deemed high risk, she was advised to undergo allogenic BMT as the last option. And, her human leukocyte antigen (HLA), the marker of compatibility with the donor, matched a perfect 100 percent with her elder sister, Aatifa.