In a major breakthrough for advanced transplant medicine in India, Kashmir top tertiary care hospital Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) has successfully performed its first Matched Unrelated Donor (MUD) Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant, saving the life of a three-year-old child suffering from the rare and potentially fatal immune disorder Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH).
The milestone transplant was made possible through an international donor match from Poland.
The life-saving procedure was carried out on a three-year-old child. The stem cell donor was identified through an international registry and matched from Poland after no suitable donor was found within the patient’s family.
Announcing the breakthrough at a press conference, SKIMS Director Prof. M. Ashraf Ganie said the transplant was made possible through a global donor network coordinated by Germany-based DKMS, one of the world’s largest stem cell donor registries.
“When a matching family donor is unavailable, we search globally for a compatible HLA match. In this case, the donor was found in Poland. The stem cells were transported to SKIMS and successfully transplanted into the child,” Ganie said.
He described the achievement as a significant advancement for the institute, noting that only a few specialised centres in India perform such complex procedures. While a MUD (matched unrelated donor) transplant typically costs between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 40 lakh, the treatment at SKIMS was provided almost free of cost, with the family bearing only a small portion of the medication expenses.
The SKIMS Director said the child has recovered well following the transplant and is being discharged from the hospital.
Following its first successful MUD Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation the doctor appealed to people to register as stem cell donors, stressing that the procedure is safe and can save lives.
Experts from the Department of Clinical Hematology said the landmark transplant, performed using stem cells from a donor in Poland, has opened new possibilities for patients suffering from life-threatening blood and immune disorders who do not have matching donors within their families.
The specialists sought to dispel misconceptions surrounding stem cell donation, explaining that advances in medical technology have made the process simple and safe.
“Unlike earlier methods that involved extracting bone marrow from bones, stem cells are now collected from the bloodstream after the donor is administered medication that mobilises stem cells into the blood. The procedure is similar to blood or platelet donation and poses no harm to the donor,” the experts said, urging people to join donor registries to help patients awaiting transplants.
They noted that many patients with severe hematological and immunological diseases cannot undergo potentially curative transplants due to the non-availability of suitable donors. Increasing donor registrations, they said, would significantly improve the chances of finding matches for such patients.
