Stem cell transplant done on 3-yr-old cancer patient in PGIMER

Stem cell transplant on a three-year-old boy suffering from a rare type of cancer has been done successfully for the first time at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh.

Stem cell transplant on a three-year-old boy suffering from a rare type of cancer has been done successfully for the first time at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh.

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The boy was suffering from a rare cancer - Neuroblastoma - which had spread all over his body, Dr Deepak Bansal, additional professor in pediatric-hematology-oncology unit of the prestigious institute said here on Monday.

The child, belonging to Tarn Taran district of Punjab, had a tumor in his abdomen, just above the right kidney and had first visited PGIMER in February. Tests confirmed that the cancer had spread to bones and bone marrow.

He had to undergo several cycles of chemotherapy over the last three months. Then, the boy's own stem cells were collected and he was treated with high dose of chemotherapy.

Neuroblastoma typically occurs in children less than five years old and commonly arises from a small gland above the kidney, called adrenal gland, and tends to spread very fast. Traditional treatments show very poor result, Dr Bansal said.

PGIMER receives some 25 new cases of neuroblastoma annually and it is for the first time that such a transplant has been performed in a child here, Dr Bansal claimed.