This World Cancer Week, let’s separate the myth and reality surrounding it – The New Indian Express

Fake, fun and fantastic, myths usually tell us something about why the world is the way it is. But believing myths about cancer can be outright dangerous. Consider this: cancer is contagious and you need dollops of positivity to beat the dreaded C-word. Or this: cancer is caused by a fungus and its actually your bodys attempt to protect itself from the infection. From coffee to carbonates to cannabis, millions of pages on the internet tell us every day about miracle cures for cancer. And it is hard to distinguish fact from fiction, because few illnesses cause as much terror or have as many misconceptions that refuse to die. Here, some of the countrys leading oncologists bust old myths and bring new hope, as an explosion of new research changes the way cancer is perceived, understood and treated.

Dealing with cancer means making some tough choices. How you decide to seek medical help will determine your chances of cure. Hence, education is vital. The most common concerns patients come to me with are often some of the biggest myths. I find it painful that the myths are very much alive even among the educated classes. I make time to engage with my patients to dispel the misconceptions and to create awareness about the bad effects of these myths. Remember, you have a far better chance of beating the disease if you can dispel the fallacies and false notions.

Myth Biopsy can disturb cancer cells and cause them to spread to otherparts of the body.

Reality

It disturbs me that people still come to me and say, I dont want to do a biopsy. The truth is: there is little reason to worry that a biopsy allows cancer cells to spread within the body. Medical evidence shows that this is unlikely. In fact, patients who have biopsy procedures to confirm their diagnosis and determine the cancers stage have a better outcome and longer survival than patients who do not have a biopsy.

The point is, how can you diagnose a cancer without biopsy? Cancer treatment starts only after biopsy. It is the first landmark event in the definitive diagnosis of a cancer. That is crucial in determining and planning the correct treatment for a patient. If a biopsy indicates a benign disease, the patient is spared unnecessary treatments.

Biopsy may involve discomfort and bleeding, but the gain far outweighs the risks. I ask my patients if biopsy is responsible for cancer spreading, then all the people coming to me should have initial stage cancers, since they havent done biopsy as yet. I bring in their own examples: how come your own cancer has spread, as all the imaging, MRI, CT and PET scans show, although you have not done biopsy? Yet faith in this myth continues. It is a key reason why treatment gets delayed in our country. We have to understand that cancer does not wait for any procedure to spread.

MythChemotherapy means the cancer is terminal. Hence,avoid chemo.

Reality

The second set of cancer myths I come across revolves round chemotherapy. My patients ask a lot of questions about it: they want to know if chemotherapy means the illness is terminal, if the side-effects of chemo will completely disrupt their life completely, and if chemo is really worth it. A lot of patients do not wish to go through it.

The truth is: chemotherapy certainly does not mean a cancer is terminal. It is essential for many cancer patients. The more advanced cancer you have the more you need chemotherapy. In fact, chemotherapy is often a preventive measure to prevent recurrence and to improve the odds of cure. It also ensures faster recovery. Chemotherapy has evolved considerably over the decades. The drastic side effects are not as prevalent today. It does not disrupt a patients everyday life the way it used to once. With the advances in chemotherapy, more and more people are surviving and doing well after cancer treatment.

We need to understand that cancer is something that happens in all multicellular organismsfrom the smallest hydra to the biggest whales. Cancer is more common in animals that are domesticated or in the zoo, because they live longer than those in the wild. Studies from India have analysed fossils of dinosaurs that suffered from cancer. Cancer is a disease of cell regulation. In multicellular organisms there are many cells, some of which become bones, some tissues, some the brain. In that process of evolution, things can go wrong. And sometimes they can become uncontrollable. Cancer is such unchecked cell growth.

More recent studies show cancers are caused by three broad groups of cell alterations: the smallest group is that of people born with some genetic alteration that runs in the family. It makes up about 5 percent of all cancers. Of the environmental factors, the biggest is tobacco, which causes damage to the DNAcigarettes and passive smoking, chewed tobacco, hookah, dant manjanmaking up 25 percent of cancers. The next big group is infection, which is coming down now as hygiene is improving. The big ones are papilloma virusa sexually transmitted disease, from the male to the femaleit takes about 30 years to manifest, from pre-cancer to cancer and then to metastatic cancer. In the liver you get Hepatitis B and C, from mother to child.

Hep C comes through transfusion, tattooing. Then there is the Helicobacter pylori, a waterborne bacterium that is usually acquired in early life. If one is exposed to other carcinogens, like salted meat, cigarette smoke and so on, it triggers the cancer. Infections are responsible for 15-25 percent of cancers in India.The rest of the cancers are now thought to be random occurrences. Our body is a continuous workshop of cell regulation, replacement, regeneration: when cells get damaged, old cells are removed and new cells grow. The skin, the bone marrow, the linings of the gut, bladders and the kidneyare changing continuously. Stem cells provide new cells to the body as it grows and replace those that are damaged or lost. They can divide over and over again to produce new cells. As they divide, they can change into the other types of cell that make up the body. And just sometimes, things go wrongat randomthat have carcinogenic potential. That means, anyone can get cancer. Call it plain bad luck.

MythCancer is fast turninginto an epidemicin India.

Reality

That to me is the biggest myth. You may see a large number of cancer patients in hospitals. You may know a lot of people with cancer. But the epidemic is more apparent than real. Cancer is a disease of older age. It usually picks up from about age 40-50 and reaches a peak at about 7080. What has happened in India is that our population has exploded and we have a substantial number of older people. There are a 100 million people above age 60.

The number of cancer patients is also increased. This is typical of what we call an epidemiological transition. That means, once people died of infectious diseasestyphoid, malaria, dengue, choleraand so life expectancy was very low. In 1947, life expectancy was about 30-35 years. Now it is almost 70 years. So you dont just have more people, you have more older people.

Most importantly, we have started doing lab testsendoscopies, scans, screens, biopsiesso deep-seated cancers are being picked up. Even 30 years ago, there was no opportunity for this. This is why you are suddenly seeing so many people with cancer. The proof for this lies in some very beautiful studies done 100 years ago by British doctors in India. They had done autopsies on a lot of unclaimed bodies. And the autopsies showed a high rate of cancersalmost as high as it is today. The Mumbai Cancer Registry, which was started in 1962, has been monitoring cancers in the city continuously for nearly 60 years. You will be pleased to know that the rates have not really increased. The actual numbers have gone up, as the population of Mumbai has gone up enormously, but if you standardise the number of cancers in corresponding age groups and compare, there is no increase at all. On the contrary it has decreased a little bit, which is very reassuring.

MythAYUSH cancure cancer.

Reality

Every day in my chamber, I see patients who have been sitting on their symptoms for months, sometimes years, thinking it would not be cancer. Their doctors have not told them it could be cancer and treated them for dysentery or piles, instead. And when things get out of order, they come to oncologists. But by then, its often too late. There is a serious lack of awareness among people and among AYUSH practitioners. The bottomline is, if you have symptoms that continue for weeks, do not go to doctors who cannot do biopsy. You cant diagnose cancer without doing biopsy.

MythCancer is adeath sentence.

Reality

People panic once cancer is diagnosed. They seek out immediate treatment, go to people who are not experts, do not understand the upsides or downsides and end up getting treatments that harm them more. One reason could be that they are driven by the messages they hear. So the first thing to remember is that cancer is not a death sentence. Dont panic. You must do your research and find out people who are doing the right treatment and go to the right place. Cancer cells grow slowly, dividing every three to four weeks. It is not that scary. You have four to six weeks time to find the right place. The best treatments are inevitably found in places that have multidisciplinary teams.

Myth Cancers spread with intervention.

Reality

The biological nature of cancer is to spread. Thats why cancer kills. All cancers will spread depending on its tumour biology. Some fast and some slow. The reason why there is an apparent spread after an intervention via biopsy or surgery is because those procedures can reveal the spread more accurately, and not because cancers spread after the intervention. As the cancer cells divide in geometric proportions, it will take more or less time to double its size from 1 mm to 2 mm and from 5cm to 10 cm. In other words, the growth of cancer will appear to be faster in more advanced stages.

Myth Dont tell the patient the bad news.

Reality

If you tell the patient the bad news (diagnosis of cancer etc) they will not be able to take it. As a result, often half-truths or white lies are told by doctors to patients. Studies done in India on patients with cancer, however, reveal that 90 per cent of them want to know the correct diagnosis and likelihood of survival, as it helps to plan the treatment and plan their lives as well.

There are a whole range of rumours and myths about cancer that makes it hard for people to know what is true about this widely misunderstood disease. Every day, new myths arise and old ones reappear, leaving patients and family members confused and vulnerable. Many turn to dangerous remedies, others get trapped into believing fallacies that harm them immensely. Here are some of the most persistent and pernicious myths surrounding cancer and its treatment that we face every day.

MythNo, this cannotbe cancer.

Reality

We come across hundreds of patients who show signs and symptoms indicating the possibility of cancer, yet they will not accept it. The first reaction in India, typically, is: No, this cannot be cancer. Somebody gets a lump, a hard mass on any part of the body, a coughing spell that lasts for over four weeks. And the first thought is to blame it on infections or pollutionsomething that will settle down within a week or two. Who will tell them that cancer coughs will not settle down? The first presenting symptom for lung cancer will be cough. We get patients with telltale signs of cancerblood or discharge through urine, stool, mouth, female genital organsyet by the time they seek medical opinion, often the cancer has already spread to other parts of the body. This denial mode and not letting treatment start on time, is a very Indian attitude.

MythLifestyle tendencies that lead to heart disease, hypertension or stroke are notrelated to cancer.

Reality

Think of physical inactivity, of stress, of eating a lot of preserved and processed food. And the first reaction we find among patients is: Surely, those are not linked to cancer. They seem to be convinced that the lifestyle tendencies that are linked to heart disease, hypertension or stroke have nothing to do with cancer. Thats just not true. Now we have sufficient literature and scientific evidence to show that patients having more junk food, leading more sedentary lives, living in more stressful environments are more prone to cancer than those who are not under such circumstances. Fortunately, these are modifiable factors. That means, people can change these. Non-modifiable factors mean those that cannot be changed: for instance, somebody with a family history of cancer will have higher chances of getting the disease. These are genetic traits. There needs to be developed the maximum awareness that modifiable lifestyle excesses dont just bring on heart disease, stroke or hypertension, but also cancer.

MythCancer iscontagious.

Reality

This is an important myth that even educated people share. If somebody gets cancer, friends and neighbours do not visit, thinking they may also get it. This is a huge issue, because in India we are dependent on social support for emotional sustenance. That often breaks down for cancer patients, who are anyway emotionally disturbed and need more support. Myths like this make them go through social isolation, bringing in more stress. Cancer is absolutely not contagious. In some people, cancers may be caused by certain viruses (some types of human papillomavirus, or HPV, for example) and bacteria (such as Helicobacter pylori). While a virus or bacterium can spread from person to person, the cancers cannot.

MythNourishing foodnourishes cancer cells.

Reality

This is a common and dangerous misconception: if you give nourishing food to a patient, the cancer will grow faster. Hence deprive a cancer patient of food and the cancer will die out. People try to avoid taking nutritious food, become malnourished, their immunity gets weak and they are not able to tolerate chemotherapy, surgery, radiationfor all of which a patient needs to be physically as strong as possible. If they eat well, the immunity system of the body will fight the cancer cells. Remember, our body constantly makes some cells that can convert into tumour cells. At the same time, the body also has the immunity to destroy these cells. If immunity goes down, the patient becomes more prone to having cancer. Keeping yourself healthy and stress-free are the vital preventives for cancer.

THE COSTCancer is now the leading cause of catastrophic health spending, distress financing, and increasing expenditure before death in India

Out-of-pocket expenditure is three times higher for private inpatient cancer care in the country40% of cancer costs are met through borrowing, sale of assets and contributions from friends and relatives These costs exceed 20% of annual per capita household expenditure in 60% of Indian households with a patient with cancer

A lot of my patients ask: Why did I get cancer? I dont smoke, I dont drink, I am a vegetarian, I pray to God regularly, I have never harmed anybody. Then why did I get it? These are some of the most challenging questions oncologists face. And these are also at the intersection of the myths, misconceptions and facts in all discussions on cancer.

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This World Cancer Week, let's separate the myth and reality surrounding it - The New Indian Express

Report: Former Intercontinental Champion Working To Return To WWE Ring – Cultaholic

Throughout his early career, Daniel Bryan suffered at least 10 concussions, which caused a lesion in the brain and forced him into retirement into 2014. While Bryan was ultimately cleared by WWEs medical team in 2018 and has been wrestling in the company ever since, The American Dragon found it difficult to get cleared by WWE despite independent doctors declaring it safe for him to perform. This led to Bryan requesting his release from the company so he could wrestle in Ring Of Honor or New Japan Pro Wrestling, but WWE consistently denied his requests.

Now, a similar situation is seemingly affecting former Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella. The Milan Miracle was forced to retire in WWE in 2014 after undergoing neck surgery for the third time. However, after his release from the company in 2016, Marella came out of retirement and has been sporadically wrestling ever since. He most recently wrestled in the Womens Royal Rumble match as his twin sister Santina but wasnt cleared to take any bumps and eliminated himself from the match, despite wrestling a 10-minute match back in September against Simon Grimm at Josh Barnetts Bloodsport 2.

Marella is determined to end his career on his terms in WWE, however, and Dave Meltzer has reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the former Miss WrestleMania is travelling to Colombia to undergo stem cell treatment to repair his neck. Meltzer explained other wrestlers like RVD, Kevin Nash, Edge, and Sheamus have all undergone the same treatment and have credited it with helping them prolong their careers.

For the avoidance of doubt, Meltzer wrote: A huge thing that may even revolutionize careers is the stem cell treatment that a lot of wrestlers have used flying to Colombia. The idea is that it regrows tissue and discs and regenerates injuries. A lot of talent, Kevin Nash, Rey Mysterio, Rob Van Dam, Brian Cage, Edge, Sheamus and many others have gone there for treatment. Anthony Carelli (Santino Marella) is there this week and he noted on Sunday Nights Main Event in Canada that every wrestler who has gotten that treatment except Kurt Angle, whose damage must have been so bad that it simply was beyond repair, has ended up with good results from it. While Edge never talked about it, that is said by others to be part of what has allowed him to return. Carelli, who has had back and neck issues that ended his career, is looking to return to wrestle and end his career on his own terms, as well as go back to competing in age group judo.

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Report: Former Intercontinental Champion Working To Return To WWE Ring - Cultaholic

Life and death in Wuhan: On the front lines fighting coronavirus – Nikkei Asian Review

WUHAN, China (Caixin) -- In the coronavirus epidemic, doctors on the front lines take on the greatest risk and best understand the situation. Peng Zhiyong, director of acute medicine at the Wuhan University South Central Hospital, is one of those doctors.

In an interview on Tuesday with Caixin, Peng described his personal experiences in first encountering the disease in early January and quickly grasping its virulent potential and the need for stringent quarantine measures.

As the contagion spread and flooded his ICU, the doctor observed that three weeks seemed to determine the difference between life and death. Patients with stronger immune systems would start to recover in a couple of weeks, but in the second week some cases would take a turn for the worse.

In the third week, keeping some of these acute patients alive might require extraordinary intervention. For this group, the death rate seems to be 4% to 5%, Peng said. After working 12-hour daytime shifts, the doctor spends his evenings researching the disease and has summarized his observations in a thesis.

The doctors and nurses at his hospital are overwhelmed with patients. Once they don protective hazmat suits, they go without food, drink and bathroom breaks for their entire shifts. That's because there's aren't enough of the suits for a mid-shift change, he said.

Over the past month on the front lines of the coronavirus battle, Peng has been brought to tears many times when forced to turn away patients for lack of staffing and beds. He said what really got to him, though, was the death of an acutely ill pregnant woman when treatment stopped for lack of money -- the day before the government decided to pick up the costs of all coronavirus treatments.

Here is our interview with the ICU doctor:

Screening criteria were too tough in the beginning

Caixin: When did you encounter your first novel coronavirus patient?

Peng Zhiyong: Jan. 6, 2020. There was a patient from Huanggang who had been refused by multiple hospitals and was sent to the South Central Hospital emergency room. I attended the consultation. At the time, the patient's illness was already severe, and he had difficulty breathing. I knew right then that he had contracted this disease. We debated at length whether to accept the patient. If we didn't, he had nowhere to go; if we did, there was a high likelihood the disease would infect others. We had to do a very stringent quarantine. We decided to take the patient in the end.

I called the hospital director and told him the story, including the fact that we had to clear the hospital room of other patients and to remodel it after SARS standards by setting up a contamination area, buffer area and cleaning area while separating the living areas of the hospital staff from the patients'.

On Jan. 6, with the patient in the emergency room, we did quarantine remodeling in the emergency room and did major renovations to the intensive care unit. South Central Hospital's ICU has 66 beds in total. We kept a space dedicated to coronavirus patients. I knew the infectiousness of the disease. There were bound to be more people coming in, so we set aside 16 beds. We did quarantine renovations on the infectious diseases area because respiratory illnesses are transmitted through the air, so even air has to be quarantined so that inside the rooms the air can't escape. At the time, some said that the ICU had a limited number of beds and 16 was excessive. I said it wasn't excessive at all.

Caixin: You predicted in January that there would be person-to-person transmission and even took quarantine measures. Did you report the situation to higher-ups?

Peng: This disease really did spread very fast. By Jan. 10, the 16 beds in our ICU were full. We saw how dire the situation was and told the hospital's leadership that they had to report even higher. Our head felt it was urgent too, and reported this to the Wuhan city health committee. On Jan. 12, the department sent a team of three specialists to South Central to investigate. The specialists said that clinical symptoms really resembled SARS, but they were still talking about diagnosis criteria, that kind of stuff. We replied that those standards were too stringent. Very few people would get diagnosed based on those criteria. The head of our hospital told them this multiple times during this period. I know other hospitals were doing the same.

Before this, the specialists had already gone to Jinyintan Hospital to investigate and made a set of diagnosis criteria. You had to have had exposure to the South China Seafood Market, you needed to have had a fever and test positive for the virus. You had to meet all three criteria in order to be diagnosed. The third one was especially stringent. In reality, very few people were able to test for a virus.

On Jan. 18, the high-level specialists from the National Health Commission came to Wuhan, to South Central Hospital to inspect. I told them again that the criteria were too high. This way it was easy to miss infections. I told them this was infectious; if you made the criteria too high and let patients go, you're putting society in danger. After the second national team of specialists came, the criteria were changed. The number of diagnosed patients rose quickly.

Caixin: What made you believe the new coronavirus could be transmitted between people?

Peng: Based on my clinical experience and knowledge, I believed that the disease would be an acutely infectious one and that we needed high-level protection. The virus isn't going to change based on man's will. I felt we needed to respect it and act according to science. Heeding my requirements, South Central Hospital's ICU took strict quarantine measures, and as a result, our department only had two infections. As of Jan. 28, of the entire hospital's medical personnel, only 40 have been infected. This is way less compared with other hospitals in terms of percentage of total medical staff.

It pains us to see the coronavirus develop to such a desperate state. But the priority now is to treat people; do everything we can to save people.

Fatality rate for acute patients is 4% to 5%. Three weeks determine life and death

Caixin: Based on your clinical experience, what's the disease progression of the new coronavirus?

Peng: Lately I've been spending daytimes seeing patients in the ICU, then doing some research in the evenings. I just wrote a thesis. I drew on data from 138 cases that South Central Hospital had from Jan. 7 to Jan. 28 and attempted to summarize some patterns of the novel coronavirus.

A lot of viruses will die off on their own after a certain amount of time. We call these self-limited diseases. I've observed that the breakout period of the novel coronavirus tends to be three weeks, from the onset of symptoms to developing difficulties breathing. Basically going from mild to severe symptoms takes about a week. There are all sorts of mild symptoms: feebleness, shortness of breath, some people have fevers, some don't. Based on studies of our 138 cases, the most common symptoms in the first stage are fever (98.6% of cases), feebleness (69.6%), cough (59.4%), muscle pains (34.8%) and difficulties breathing (31.2%), while less common symptoms include headaches, dizziness, stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.

But some patients who enter the second week will suddenly get worse. At this stage, people should go to the hospital. Elderly with underlying conditions may develop complications; some may need machine-assisted respiration. When the body's other organs start to fail, that's when it becomes severe, while those with strong immune systems see their symptoms decrease in severity at this stage and gradually recover. So the second week is what determines whether the illness becomes critical.

The third week determines whether critical illness leads to death. Some in critical condition who receive treatment can increase their lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, and see an improvement in their immune systems, and have been brought back, so to speak. But those whose lymphocyte numbers continue to decline, those whose immune systems are destroyed in the end, experience multiple organ failure and die.

For most, the illness is over in two weeks, whereas for those for whom the illness becomes severe, if they can survive three weeks they're good. Those that can't will die in three weeks.

Caixin: Could you give more details on clinical research? What percentage of cases develop from mild conditions to severe conditions? What percentage of serious cases develop into life-threatening ones? What is the mortality rate?

Peng: Based on my clinical observations, this disease is highly contagious, but the mortality rate is low. Those that progressed into the life-threatening stage often occurred in the elderly already with chronic diseases.

As of Jan. 28, of 138 cases, 36 were in the ICU, 28 recovered, five died. That is to say, the mortality rate of patients with severe conditions was 3.6%. Yesterday, Feb. 3, another patient died, bringing the mortality rate to 4.3%. Given patients in the ICU, it is likely to have more deaths. The mortality rate is also likely to edge up but not significantly.

Those hospitalized tend to have severe or life-threatening conditions. Patients with slight symptoms are placed in quarantine at home. We have not gathered data on the percentage of cases that progress from slight symptoms to serious symptoms. If a patient goes from serious conditions to life-threatening conditions, the patient will be sent to the ICU. Among 138 patients, 36 were transferred to the ICU, representing 26% of all patients. The percentage of deaths among life-threatening cases is about 15%. The mean period to go from slight conditions to life-threatening conditions is about 10 days. Twenty-eight patients recovered and were discharged. Right now, the recovery rate is 20.3% while other patients remain hospitalized.

It is notable that 12 cases were linked to South China Seafood Market; 57 were infected while being hospitalized, including 17 patients already hospitalized in other departments; and 40 medical staff, among 138 cases, as of Jan. 28. That demonstrates that a hospital is a high-risk zone and appropriate protection must be taken.

Caixin: What is the highest risk a seriously ill patient faces?

Peng: The biggest assault the virus launches is on a patient's immune system. It causes a fall in the count of lymphocytes, damage in the lungs and shortness of breath. Many serious patients died of choking. Others died of the failure of multiple organs following complications in their organs resulting from a collapse of the immune system.

Caixin: A 39-year-old patient in Hong Kong suffered from cardiac arrest, and he died quickly. A few patients did not have severe symptoms upon the onslaught of the virus, or in the early stages, but they died suddenly. Some experts argue that the virus triggers a cytokine storm, which ravages the stronger immune systems of young adults. Eventually excessive inflammations caused by cytokine result in the higher mortality rate. Have you seen such a phenomenon in the coronavirus outbreak?

Peng: Based on my observations, a third of patients exhibited inflammation in their whole body. It was not necessarily limited to young adults. The mechanism of a cytokine storm is about whole-body inflammation, which leads to a failure of multiple organs and quickly evolves into the terminal stage. In some fast-progressing cases, it took two to three days to progress from whole-body inflammation to the life-threatening stage.

Caixin: How do you treat serious and life-threatening cases?

Peng: For serious and life-threatening cases, our main approach is to provide oxygen, high-volume oxygen. At first noninvasive machine-pumped oxygen, followed by intubated oxygen if conditions worsen. For life-threatening cases, we use ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or pumping the patient's blood through an artificial lung machine). In four cases, we applied ECMO to rescue patients from the verge of death.

Currently there are no special drugs for the coronavirus. The primary purpose of the ICU is to help patients sustain the functions of their body. Different patients have different symptoms. In case of shortness of breath, we provided oxygen; in case of a kidney failure, we gave dialysis; in case of a coma, we deployed ECMO. We provide support wherever a patient needs it to sustain their life. Once the count of lymphocytes goes up and the immune system improves, the virus will be cleared. However, if the count of lymphocytes continues to fall, it is dangerous because the virus continues to replicate. Once a patient's immune system is demolished, it is hard to save a patient.

Caixin: There is news of some drugs that work. People are hopeful of U.S.-made remdesivir, which cured the first case in the United States. What do you think of the drugs?

Peng: There are no 2019 novel coronavirus-targeted drugs so far. Some patients may recover after taking some drugs along with supportive treatment. But such individual cases do not indicate the universal effect of the drugs. The effect is also related to how serious each case is and their individual health conditions. People want a cure urgently, and that is understandable. But we need to be cautious.

Caixin: Do you have any advice for coronavirus patients?

Peng: The most effective approach to the virus epidemic is to control the source of the virus, stem the spread of the virus and prevent human-to-human transmission. My advice for a patient is going to a special ward for infectious diseases, early detection, early diagnosis, early quarantine and early treatment. Once it has developed into a severe case, hospitalization is a must. It is better to contain the disease at an early stage. Once it reaches the life-threatening stage, it is way more difficult to treat it and requires more medical resources. With regard to life-threatening cases, try to save them with ICU measures to reduce the mortality rate.

Sad story of a pregnant patient

Caixin: How many patients with life-threatening conditions have you treated? How many have recovered?

Peng: As of Feb. 4, six patients in the ICU of South Central Hospital died. Eighty percent of them have been improving, a quarter are approaching their discharge and the remainder are still recovering in segregated wards.

The patient who impressed me most came from Huanggang. He was the first to be saved with the assistance of ECMO. He had contact with South China Seafood Market and was in very serious condition. He was transferred to the ICU and we saved him with ECMO. He was discharged from the hospital Jan. 28.

Caixin: What is your workload and pace like?

Peng: The ICU is overloaded. There are three patient wards with 66 beds in South Central Hospital, housing 150 patients. Since Jan. 7 when we received the first patient, no one took any leave. We took turns working in the ICU. Even pregnant medical staff did not take leave. After the epidemic got worse, none of the medical staff ever went home. We rest in a hotel near the hospital or in the hospital.

In the segregated ward, we wear level-3 protective gear. One shift is 12 hours for a doctor and eight hours for a nurse. Since protective gear is in a shortage, there is only one set for a medical staff member a day. We refrain from eating or drinking during our shift because the gear is no longer protective once we go to the washroom. The gear is thick, airtight and tough on our body. It felt uncomfortable at the beginning, but we are used to it now.

Caixin: Did you experience any danger? For example, in case of intubation, what do you do to prevent yourselves from being infected?

Peng: It is a new coronavirus. We are not sure of its nature and its path of spread. It is not true to say we are not afraid. Medical staff members do fear to some extent. But patients need us. When a patient is out of breath and noninvasive oxygen provision fails, we must apply intubation. The procedure is dangerous as the patient may vomit or spit. Medical staff are likely to be exposed to the danger of infection. We strictly require doctors and nurses to apply the highest-level protection. The biggest problem we face now is the shortage of protective gear. The protective stock for ICU staff is running low, although the hospital prioritizes the supply to us.

Caixin: Is there anything that moved you in particular? Did you cry?

Peng: I often cried because so many patients could not be admitted to the hospital. They wailed in front of the hospital. Some patients even knelt down to beg me to accept him into the hospital. But there was nothing I could do since all beds were occupied. I shed tears while I turned them down. I've run out of tears now. I have no other thoughts but to try my best to save more lives.

The most saddest thing was a pregnant woman from Huanggang. She was in very serious condition. Nearly 200,000 yuan ($28,700) was spent after more than a week in the ICU. She was from the countryside, and the money for hospitalization was borrowed from her relatives and friends. Her condition was improving after the use of ECMO, and she was likely to survive. But her husband decided to give up. He cried for his decision. I wept too because I felt there was hope for her to be saved. The woman died after we gave up. And exactly the next day, the government announced a new policy that offers free treatment for all coronavirus-infected patients. I feel so sorry for that pregnant woman.

The deputy director of our department told me one thing, and he cried too. Wuhan 7th Hospital is in a partnership with our hospital, South Central Hospital. The deputy director went there to help in their ICU. He found that two-thirds of the medical staff in the ICU were already infected. Doctors there were running "naked" as they knew they were set to be infected given the shortage of protective gear. They still worked there nonetheless. That was why ICU medical staff were almost all sickened. It is too tough for our doctors and nurses.

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Caixinglobal.com is English-language online news portal of Chinese financial and business news media group Caixin. Nikkei recently agreed with the company to exchange articles in English.

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Life and death in Wuhan: On the front lines fighting coronavirus - Nikkei Asian Review

First CAR-T cell cancer therapy patient in Delaware – Dover Post

'This is the beginning of my new life'

I thought my cancer diagnosis was a death sentence, said Lynnette Williams-Briggs, 60, of Seaford, Delaware, who was diagnosed with advanced B-cell lymphoma in 2018.

Briggs cancer is now in complete remission thanks to successful chimeric antigen receptor CAR-T cell therapy she received in August atChristianaCaresHelen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research InstitutesBone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant Program.

I can breathe again. This is the beginning of my new life, Williams-Briggs said following the treatment that restored her hope for a second chance at life.

She was the first patient to receive CAR-T cell therapy in Delaware. A second patient was treated in December 2019, and doctors are preparing several more patients for CAR-T cell transplants in coming weeks.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved CAR-T cell therapy to treat patients like Williams-Briggs with highly resistant, B-cell blood cancers, for whom other available options have failed.

CAR-T cell therapy is only available at select cancer centers with specialized expertise in cellular therapies that are recognized for quality by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy.

The Graham Cancer Centers Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant Program is the only one in Delaware that is certified to treat adult patients with advanced B-cell lymphomas and children and young adults (to age 25) with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, using an FDA-approved drug.

CAR-T cell therapy is highly personalized medicine that attempts to use the bodys natural defenses to fight against cancer. The transplant team extracts millions of T cells, from the patients bloodstream, using a specialized blood filtration process called leukapheresis. The collected T cells are flash-frozen and sent to a lab for reprogramming, and then later infused back into the patient using a process similar to a blood transfusion.

The therapy is considered a living drug with potential benefits that could last for years.

When we first met Ms. Williams-Briggs, her cancer had progressed rapidly despite a third round of chemotherapy, so we knew we had to move quickly, said Graham Cancer Center Hematologist Peter Abdelmessieh, D.O. He worked closely with the bone marrow/stem cell transplant team and Graham Cancer Center leadership over the course of just eight months to develop the CAR-T cell therapy program.

It was truly a team effort to bring CAR-T cell therapy to our community so quickly, Dr. Abdelmessieh said.

CAR-T cell therapy has been extremely effective for many patients like Williams-Briggs, whose PET scan at 90 days confirmed her remission.

The supercharged T cells Williams-Briggs received were genetically modified in the lab to sprout new surface tools that improve their ability to recognize, latch onto and destroy other cells (including cancer cells) that express a specific antigen called CD19. These reprogrammed cells continue to multiply in the body after treatment, remaining on guard to seek and destroy any new cancers that might develop.

With continued success in increasing numbers of patients, it is conceivable that in the not too distant future, CAR-T cell therapy could become the new standard of care, replacing chemotherapy and stem cell transplants for many cancers, Dr. Abdelmessieh said.

The extended recovery period for CAR-T cell therapy is generally two to three months. After the infusion, patients may spend up to three weeks in the hospital to monitor treatment response and any side effects.

During the first 30 days after leaving the hospital, patients are required to remain close to the treatment center for regular follow-up care.

The ability to offer potentially life-saving CAR-T cell therapy is one more reason our patients need not travel further than the Graham Cancer Center for state-of-the-science cancer treatment, said Nicholas J. Petrelli, M.D., Bank of America medical director of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute.

The Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant Program is an outstanding example of how well our clinical teams work together to drive innovation in patient care.

Although patients normally do not experience the side effects associated with chemotherapy, such as nausea, vomiting or hair loss, CAR-T cell therapy is not without risks. A common side effect, which Williams-Briggs also experienced, is cytokine release syndrome. This is an inflammatory condition that causes flu-like symptoms that may be mild or severe.

The transplant team responded quickly to manage her symptoms while she received expert care on the Bone Marrow Transplant and Oncology unit at Christiana Hospital.

From the moment I first met with my transplant team, I felt like I was part of one big loving family that extended beyond my own loved ones, Williams-Briggs said.

Dr. Abdelmessieh and my ChristianaCare family gave me hope to keep fighting when I really didnt think I would make it. I would have driven anywhere to get life-saving treatment, but I am thankful that I did not have to. I found my miracle closer to home.

Excerpt from:
First CAR-T cell cancer therapy patient in Delaware - Dover Post

Immune therapy tweak offers new hope to blood cancer patients – NBC News

A retired Texan had endured 12 years of chemotherapy for blood cancer only to see the disease come back stronger and meaner each time.

It was long, hard and terrible, J.C. Cox, 66, said.

So when he was told that he could take part in a clinical trial of a newly modified form of immune therapy, he signed on.

In that small preliminary trial, the results of which were published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, nearly two-thirds of the patients, all of whom had cancer so advanced that just a decade ago there would have been no hope for them, went into complete remission. Cox was among that two-thirds.

The new treatment involves tweaking a type of therapy called CAR-T that helps the immune system home in on cancer cells. Those tweaks appear to have made it more effective than its predecessor while also leading to fewer side effects, the study found.

In CAR-T therapy, doctors equip a patients own T-cells with a sensor that essentially sniffs out a protein on cancer cells, allowing them to glom onto the protein and then destroy the diseased cells. CAR-T therapy has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat several types of blood cancer.

The altered T cells end up working like a heat-seeking missile, said study co-author Dr. Katayoun Rezvani, a professor of stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

There were several drawbacks to CAR-T, including the time it took to make the revved up T cells which needed to be harvested from patients and then sent to a lab, their cost, and most important, the possibility of life-threatening side effects.

To try to make a cheaper, safer therapy that would potentially work for all patients, Rezvani and her colleagues switched from T-cells to a different type of immune cell, called natural killer cells.

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Natural killer cells are the best killers of virally infected and abnormal cells, she said. They can continue to patrol and recognize abnormal cells.

There were several advantages to the natural killer cells, not the least of which was that, unlike T cells, they wouldnt make the patients sick by spewing out a flood of inflammatory proteins, leading to a severe condition called a cytokine storm. Another big advantage was that the natural killer cells from one patient could be given to another without any tissue matching. That meant that such cells from healthy donors or from donated umbilical cord blood could be banked and ready to use at any time.

Presumably, this would cut down on the wait time and the costs of the therapy, because the treatments werent being tailor-made for each individual patient.

Rezvani and her colleagues genetically modified the natural killer cells to have a receptor (the R in CAR) for a protein that is on the surface of the cancer cells they were targeting. The receptor would lock onto the protein and then the cell would do its work.

The researchers also tweaked the natural killer cells in two other ways. Unlike T cells which live for a long time, natural killer cells normally have a lifespan of just a couple of weeks, so the researchers added a growth factor that would keep them around for a lot longer. And as a precaution, they also inserted a switch that would allow the researchers to kill off the altered cells if they became too abundant.

Rezvani and her colleagues tested the new treatment in 11 blood cancer patients. When the patients were checked two months after treatment, seven had no signs of cancer while one other showed improvement but not complete remission. The other three had no response to the treatment.

Cox was the eighth patient to receive the new treatment, and initially had misgivings.

I didnt have any other options, Cox, who received the treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, said. But it was scary knowing I would be No. 8 and would be getting the biggest dose.

The trial had been set up to start with a low dose, and then wait to see if there were any serious side effects. If not, the plan was to increase the dose in later patients.

Coxs years of chemotherapy made him worry about possible side effects. But it was probably the easiest thing Ive ever done, he said.

The researchers themselves werent sure what to expect. We were amazed at the safety, Rezvani said. And it didnt seem to matter what dose we gave. This truly is a living drug. It gets inside of the patients body and starts growing and attacking the cancer cells.

Larger studies are needed, but if the treatment which has been licensed to Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. lives up to its early promise, Rezvani hopes to try it on other cancers, such as ones that affect the brain and the breasts.

The response of the patients in the new study is impressive, said Dr. David Porter, the director of cell therapy and transplantation at the University of Pennsylvania Health System. I think this is a major advance in the field of targeted cellular therapy.

Moreover, the natural killer treatments dont seem to have the same life-threatening complications as the original CAR-T therapy, Porter said in an email. Porter was involved with previous CAR-T research, but was not involved with this trial.

But, Porter cautioned, the study included a very small number of patients.

Cox wasnt sure what to expect when he went to be checked two months after receiving his treatment. The news was better than he could have imagined: there was no sign of his cancer.

I did a lot of crying, but they were happy tears, he said. I still get emotional when I talk about it.

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Immune therapy tweak offers new hope to blood cancer patients - NBC News

Stem Cell Therapy Market Trends and Growth, Outlook, Research, Trends and Forecast to 2025 – Instant Tech News

Stem Cell Therapy Market: Snapshot

Of late, there has been an increasing awareness regarding the therapeutic potential of stem cells for management of diseases which is boosting the growth of the stem cell therapy market. The development of advanced genome based cell analysis techniques, identification of new stem cell lines, increasing investments in research and development as well as infrastructure development for the processing and banking of stem cell are encouraging the growth of the global stem cell therapy market.

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One of the key factors boosting the growth of this market is the limitations of traditional organ transplantation such as the risk of infection, rejection, and immunosuppression risk. Another drawback of conventional organ transplantation is that doctors have to depend on organ donors completely. All these issues can be eliminated, by the application of stem cell therapy. Another factor which is helping the growth in this market is the growing pipeline and development of drugs for emerging applications. Increased research studies aiming to widen the scope of stem cell will also fuel the growth of the market. Scientists are constantly engaged in trying to find out novel methods for creating human stem cells in response to the growing demand for stem cell production to be used for disease management.

It is estimated that the dermatology application will contribute significantly the growth of the global stem cell therapy market. This is because stem cell therapy can help decrease the after effects of general treatments for burns such as infections, scars, and adhesion. The increasing number of patients suffering from diabetes and growing cases of trauma surgery will fuel the adoption of stem cell therapy in the dermatology segment.

Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Overview

Also called regenerative medicine, stem cell therapy encourages the reparative response of damaged, diseased, or dysfunctional tissue via the use of stem cells and their derivatives. Replacing the practice of organ transplantations, stem cell therapies have eliminated the dependence on availability of donors. Bone marrow transplant is perhaps the most commonly employed stem cell therapy.

Osteoarthritis, cerebral palsy, heart failure, multiple sclerosis and even hearing loss could be treated using stem cell therapies. Doctors have successfully performed stem cell transplants that significantly aid patients fight cancers such as leukemia and other blood-related diseases.

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Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Key Trends

The key factors influencing the growth of the global stem cell therapy market are increasing funds in the development of new stem lines, the advent of advanced genomic procedures used in stem cell analysis, and greater emphasis on human embryonic stem cells. As the traditional organ transplantations are associated with limitations such as infection, rejection, and immunosuppression along with high reliance on organ donors, the demand for stem cell therapy is likely to soar. The growing deployment of stem cells in the treatment of wounds and damaged skin, scarring, and grafts is another prominent catalyst of the market.

On the contrary, inadequate infrastructural facilities coupled with ethical issues related to embryonic stem cells might impede the growth of the market. However, the ongoing research for the manipulation of stem cells from cord blood cells, bone marrow, and skin for the treatment of ailments including cardiovascular and diabetes will open up new doors for the advancement of the market.

Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Market Potential

A number of new studies, research projects, and development of novel therapies have come forth in the global market for stem cell therapy. Several of these treatments are in the pipeline, while many others have received approvals by regulatory bodies.

In March 2017, Belgian biotech company TiGenix announced that its cardiac stem cell therapy, AlloCSC-01 has successfully reached its phase I/II with positive results. Subsequently, it has been approved by the U.S. FDA. If this therapy is well- received by the market, nearly 1.9 million AMI patients could be treated through this stem cell therapy.

Another significant development is the granting of a patent to Israel-based Kadimastem Ltd. for its novel stem-cell based technology to be used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other similar conditions of the nervous system. The companys technology used for producing supporting cells in the central nervous system, taken from human stem cells such as myelin-producing cells is also covered in the patent.

Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Regional Outlook

The global market for stem cell therapy can be segmented into Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. North America emerged as the leading regional market, triggered by the rising incidence of chronic health conditions and government support. Europe also displays significant growth potential, as the benefits of this therapy are increasingly acknowledged.

Asia Pacific is slated for maximum growth, thanks to the massive patient pool, bulk of investments in stem cell therapy projects, and the increasing recognition of growth opportunities in countries such as China, Japan, and India by the leading market players.

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Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Competitive Analysis

Several firms are adopting strategies such as mergers and acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships, apart from product development with a view to attain a strong foothold in the global market for stem cell therapy.

Some of the major companies operating in the global market for stem cell therapy are RTI Surgical, Inc., MEDIPOST Co., Ltd., Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., NuVasive, Inc., Pharmicell Co., Ltd., Anterogen Co., Ltd., JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., and Holostem Terapie Avanzate S.r.l.

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Stem Cell Therapy Market Trends and Growth, Outlook, Research, Trends and Forecast to 2025 - Instant Tech News

4-year-old thalassemia surivor meets lifesaver for first time – Devdiscourse

This World Cancer Day, Bengaluru witnessed a heart-warming moment where a thalassemia survivor met her lifesaver for the first time. A techie from the city had donated his blood stem cells giving a second chance at life to the four-year-old Shia from West Bengal suffering from thalassemia.

The meeting was organized by the non-profit organization DKMS BMST Foundation India, an international blood stem cell donor registry. Shia flew for the first time and came here to meet her lifesaver Debojyoti, a 26-year-old techie, who donated his blood stem cells so that she could receive a second chance at life.

Expressing his emotions on World Cancer Day on Tuesday, Debojyoti told reporters he had registered himself as a potential stem cell donor in 2016 and after a year of registration he was found to be a match. "I did not know the details of the patient to whom my blood stem cells will be given but now when I met her after all these years, I went numb. Being able to save a life is a feeling beyond words. It can only be experienced-cant be described," he said.

When this family residing in Kolkata found their daughter suffering from thalassemia, they researched the treatments available. Sharing their experience, Shias father Saifulla said due to lack of awareness about the blood stem cell transplant procedure they were turned down by the local doctors.

"We were told that our daughter will need blood transfusion throughout her life to survive, we were devastated but kept doing our research. We got a ray of hope after meeting Dr. Revathi Raj based in Chennai and she assured us of treatment available in the form of a blood stem cell transplant, he said. That when the journey to find an unrelated blood stem cell match began for the family.

With the help of doctors, they were lucky to find a match for their daughter within a year and she underwent a blood stem cell transplantation. Director of DKMS-BMST Dr. Latha Jagannathan said many patients suffering from blood cancer and other blood disorders need a blood stem cell transplant to survive.

"Unfortunately, the majority of patients are unable to receive a transplant due to the unavailability of a matching blood stem cell donor", she said. The registry DKMS-BMST at present has over 40,000 registered potential blood stem cell donors.

"We will work hard that this number will increase considerably over the coming years", she added. Pediatric hematologist, oncologist, and BMT specialist at Narayana Health City, Bengaluru, Dr. Pooja Prakash Mallya said every five minutes someone in India is diagnosed with blood cancer and other blood disorders. And many are not able to find a match within their families and hence need an unrelated donor.

This gap can be bridged only when more and more people from different ethnicities in India are a part of the donor registry maintained by organizations such as DKMS-BMST, she said. CEO of DKMS BMST Foundation India Patrick Paul said mostly, for blood cancer patients a blood stem cell transplant is key for survival.

"Each one of us should register as a potential stem cell donor and encourage our near and dear ones to register themselves too", he said. As per protocols, the identity of both the donor and recipient is kept anonymous for a period of two years and thereafter upon interest, they can be introduced to each other.

Ever since I donated my blood stem cells, I was looking forward to meeting the recipient. I only knew her age and today I am glad that I could see her and meet her family, Debojyoti said. Today, Shia is leading a normal life and is a hale and hearty girl who likes to draw and color and is probably not even completely aware of the condition she was in, a DKMS-BMST statement said.

All she knows is Debojyoti is a friend who gifted her something she would cherish forever. DKMS-BMST is a joint venture of two non-profit organizations: BMST (Bangalore Medical Services Trust) and DKMS, one of the largest international blood stem cell donor registries in the world.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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4-year-old thalassemia surivor meets lifesaver for first time - Devdiscourse

Cell Harvesting Market Report On Competitive Landscape, Key Players, Future Developments and Growth 2025 – Dagoretti News

Global Cell Harvesting Market report has been produced with the most up-to-date insight and analysis to give maximum benefits to the Healthcare IT industry. The report can be used by both established and new players in the industry for a complete understanding of the market. Besides, this document also includes historic data, present and future market trends, environment, technological innovation, upcoming technologies and the technical progress in the related industry. The scope of this Cell Harvesting Market research report involves industry research, customer insights, market sizing and forecast, competitive analysis, market entry strategy, pricing trends, sustainability trends, innovation trends, technology evolution, and distribution channel assessment.

The Global Cell Harvesting Market is expected to reach USD 387.9 Million by 2025, from USD 196.9 Million in 2017 growing at a CAGR of 8.9% during the forecast period of 2018 to 2025. Some of the major players operating in the global cell harvesting market are PerkinElmer Inc, Bertin, Tomtec, Terumo BCT, HynoDent AG, Avita Medical, Argos Technologies, SP Industries, Teleflex Incorporated, Arthrex, Inc, Thomas Scientific, Brand GMBH, Brandel, Cox Scientific, Connectorate, Scinomix, Adstec.

Global Cell Harvesting Market,By Type (Manual Cell Harvesters and Automated Cell Harvesters), By Application (Biopharmaceutical Application, Stem Cell Research and other Applications), By End Users (Hospitals, Ambulatory Centers, Clinics, Community Healthcare, Others), By Geography (North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa) Industry Trends and Forecast to 2025

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Market Definition:Global Cell Harvesting Market

This market report defines the market trends and forecast the upcoming opportunities and threats of the cell harvesting market in the next 8 years. Cell harvesting is extracting the cells either from bone marrow and peripheral blood cells and culturing the cells in the culture dish containing nutrient media. Cell harvesting is used in the cell therapy as well as in gene therapy. University of California developed a cure for bubble baby disease for new born babies by using the cell harvesting in stem cells and gene therapy. Moreover, Asterias developed the stem cell therapy to regain the upper body motor function. University of California, Irvine developed the stem cell therapy to destroy the breast cancer cells.. Now a days cell harvesting is also used in the animal research and development. Cell Harvesting is also used in may research labs for in-Vitro testing. In September 2016, Terumo BCT collaborated with Cognate Bioservices for developing the immunotherapies and other related products like cell therapy products. These innovations in the cell harvesting market is notably attributing towards its increasing demand at the global pace. Further, its demand is likely to gain momentum over the forecast period.

Major Market Drivers and Restraints:

View Detailed TOC @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=global-cell-harvesting-market

Market Segmentation:Global Cell Harvesting Market

The global cell harvesting market is highly fragmented and the major players have used various strategies such as new product launches, expansions, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions, and others to increase their footprints in this market. The report includes market shares of cell harvesting market for global, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and South America.

Research Methodology:Global Cell Harvesting Market

Data collection and base year analysis is done using data collection modules with large sample sizes. The market data is analyzed and forecasted using market statistical and coherent models. Also market share analysis and key trend analysis are the major success factors in the market report. To know more pleaseRequest an Analyst Callor can drop down your inquiry.

Demand Side Primary Contributors: Doctors, Surgeons, Medical Consultants, Nurses, Hospital Buyers, Group Purchasing Organizations, Associations, Insurers, Medical Payers, Healthcare Authorities, Universities, Technological Writers, Scientists, Promoters, and Investors among others.

Supply Side Primary Contributors: Product Managers, Marketing Managers, C-Level Executives, Distributors, Market Intelligence, Regulatory Affairs Managers among others

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Cell Harvesting Market Report On Competitive Landscape, Key Players, Future Developments and Growth 2025 - Dagoretti News

Four-year-old girl meets stem cell donor for the first time in Bengaluru – The Hindu

It was an emotional moment on Tuesday for Debojyoti, a 26-year-old software professional from Bengaluru, when he met four-year-old Shia from Kolkata, recipient of his blood stem cells.

Mr. Debojyoti, who came to the rescue of the little girl by donating his stem cells, met her for the first time at a meeting organised by a non-profit organisation, DKMS-BMST Foundation India, an international blood stem cell donor registry in the city.

Thanks to the donation, Shia daughter of primary school teacher Saifulla Kobir and homemaker Sajida Kobir has been cured of thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder. When this family residing in Kolkata found that their daughter was suffering from thalassemia, they researched about the treatments available. Sharing his experience Mr. Kobir said: Due to lack of awareness about the blood stem cell transplant procedure we were turned down by the local doctors. When we were told that our daughter will need blood transfusion throughout her life to survive, we were devastated.

We got a ray of hope after meeting Dr. Revathi Raj in Chennai and she assured us that there is a treatment available in the form of a blood stem cell transplant. That is when our journey to find an unrelated blood stem cell match began, said an emotional Mr. Kobir.

With the help of doctors, they were lucky to find a match for their daughter within a year, and she underwent a blood stem cell transplantation in Chennai.

Mr. Debojyoti said, I registered myself as a potential stem cell donor in 2016 and after a year of registration I was found to be a match. As per protocols, the identity of the donor and recipient are kept anonymous for two years, and thereafter they can be introduced to each other.

Latha Jagannathan, director of DKMS-BMST, said many patients suffering from blood cancer and other blood disorders need a blood stem cell transplant to survive. Unfortunately, a majority of patients are unable to receive a transplant due to the unavailability of a matching blood stem cell donor. Their registry currently has over 40,000 registered potential blood stem cell donors.

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Four-year-old girl meets stem cell donor for the first time in Bengaluru - The Hindu

4-year-old thalassemia surivor meets lifesaver for first time – Yahoo India News

Bengaluru, Feb 4 (PTI) This World Cancer Day, Bengaluru witnessed a heart-warming moment where a thalassemia survivor met her lifesaver for the first time.

A techie from the city had donated his blood stem cells giving a second chance at life to the four-year-old Shia from West Bengal suffering from thalassemia.

The meeting was organised by the non-profit organisation DKMS BMST Foundation India, an international blood stem cell donor registry.

Shia flew for the first time and came here to meet her lifesaver Debojyoti, a 26-year-old techie, who donated his blood stem cells so that she could receive a second chance at life.

Expressing his emotions on World Cancer Day on Tuesday, Debojyoti told reporters he had registered himself as a potential stem cell donor in 2016 and after a year of registration he was found to be a match.

'I did not know the details of the patient to whom my blood stem cells will be given but now when I met her after all these years, I went numb. Being able to save a life is a feeling beyond words. It can only be experienced-cant be described,' he said.

When this family residing in Kolkata found their daughter suffering from thalassemia, they researched about the treatments available.

Sharing their experience, Shias father Saifulla said due to lack of awareness about the blood stem cell transplant procedure they were turned down by the local doctors.

'We were told that our daughter will need blood transfusion throughout her life to survive, we were devastated but kept doing our research. We got a ray of hope after meeting Dr Revathi Raj based in Chennai and she assured us of treatment available in the form of a blood stem cell transplant, he said.

Thats when the journey to find an unrelated blood stem cell match began for the family.

With the help of doctors, they were lucky to find a match for their daughter within a year and she underwent a blood stem cell transplantation.

Director of DKMS-BMST Dr Latha Jagannathan said many patients suffering from blood cancer and other blood disorders need a blood stem cell transplant to survive.

'Unfortunately, majority of patients are unable to receive a transplant due to the unavailability of a matching blood stem cell donor', she said.

The registry DKMS-BMST at present has over 40,000 registered potential blood stem cell donors.

'We will work hard that this number will increase considerably over the coming years', she added.

Paediatric hematologist, oncologist and BMT specialist at Narayana Health City, Bengaluru, Dr Pooja Prakash Mallya said every five minutes someone in India is diagnosed with blood cancer and other blood disorders. And many are not able to find a match within their families and hence need an unrelated donor.

This gap can be bridged only when more and more people from different ethnicities in India are a part of the donor registry maintained by organisations such as DKMS-BMST, she said.

CEO of DKMS BMST Foundation India Patrick Paul said mostly, for blood cancer patients a blood stem cell transplant is key for survival.

'Each one of us should register as a potential stem cell donor and encourage our near and dear ones to register themselves too', he said.

As per protocols, the identity of both the donor and recipient are kept anonymous for a period of two years and thereafter upon interest they can be introduced to each other.

Ever since I donated my blood stem cells, I was looking forward to meeting the recipient. I only knew her age and today I am glad that I could see her and meet her family, Debojyoti said.

Today, Shia is leading a normal life and is a hale and hearty girl who likes to draw and colour and is probably not even completely aware of the condition she was in, a DKMS-BMST statement said.

All she knows is Debojyoti is a friend who gifted her something she would cherish forever.

DKMS-BMST is a joint venture of two non-profit organisations: BMST (Bangalore Medical Services Trust) and DKMS, one of the largest international blood stem cell donor registries in the world. PTI RS NVG NVG

Read more:
4-year-old thalassemia surivor meets lifesaver for first time - Yahoo India News