Two sisters from Cambodia have been cured of ‘thalassemia’ after their 11 month old brother donated bone marrow. The transplant was conducted at the Mazumdar Shaw Cancer centre at Narayana Health City.
The younger sister got a match from her brother but not the elder.Since the older didnt get a match for her HLA, Human Leukocyte Antigens, doctors conducted Haplo-identical transplant where-in the father’s bone marrow who was half matched was used.A new technique was used in the Haplo transplant as the donor stem cells were not fully matched
The transplant was performed on the elder sister in June this year and she is cured of her disease completely.
_Deccan Herald_