SGCC&RI Achieves Extraordinary Feat in Bone Marrow Transplant

Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre and Research Institute, commonly known as Thakurpukur Cancer Hospital, has set a milestone by completing 75 successful Autologous Bone Marrow Transplants since the department’s inception in 2013. Another feather in the cap of its BMT unit is that it has successfully completed 11 transplants within a span of 3 months, post second wave of covid-19 pandemic.

Autologous stem cell transplants or Bone Marrow Transplants are typically done here in people who need to undergo high doses of chemotherapy to cure certain diseases like Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Myeloma and Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

A not-for-profit charitable cancer hospital, the charges incurred for a BMT are very reasonable and cost effective in comparison to other organisations. According to the BMT In-Charge Dr Partha Pratim Gupta, “Bone Marrow Transplant is now used worldwide for the treatment of various malignant and non-malignant haematologic conditions and diseases. BMT is of two types 1) Autologous BMT where the patient’s own stem cell is infused to recover bone marrow function. 2) Allogeneic BMT where the stem cell is obtained from a HLA Matched donor healthy donor. The biggest satisfaction for me as a doctor is to see my patient returning home after procedures and leading a normal life. As a charitable establishment this has been a great achievement to complete the 75th BMT as it is a record breaking number for us.”

Addressing media in Kolkata on Tuesday, the Honorary Secretary of Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre & Research Institute Mr. Anjan Gupta said “Ours is one of the first few cancer centres in Eastern India to provide the BMT facility, catering to the population of neighbouring states and countries. I, on behalf of the Governing Body, extend my heartfelt thanks and sincerest gratitude to a donor who likes to remain anonymous for providing funds for the BMT facility and also Gujrat Cancer Research Institute & Indo American Cancer Association for their support in providing intensive training to our doctors and transferring knowledge for running the unit smoothly. A state-of-the-art facility with 4 deluxe suites were set up, maintaining all safety measures to avoid infection in these highly immunocompromised patients.The unit was inaugurated by internationally acclaimed actor Sri Soumitra Chatterjee in the year 2012, since then we have successfully completed 75 Autologous BMT’s.We have future plans for setting up Allogeneic Transplants.”

The Director of Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre & Research Institute Dr. Arnab Gupta said “The most fulfilling thing for me is to see most of our 75 patients are free from disease, in spite of the fact they had failed on initial chemotherapy treatment. We as an establishment always follow the philosophy of our founder Dr.Saroj Gupta of addressing the problems of our patients holistically with full compassion and also considering their affordability.”

The Centre has a number of success stories to share.

A BMT patient, Madhurupa Bhattacharya, a 19 years old girl from Agartala, Tripura is a budding street photographer. In the year 2019, she was diagnosed with Classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After getting treated in several hospitals and rapid recurrences of her disease her BMT procedures were successfully completed here at SGCC&RI. Today she is an enthusiastic, self dependent girl who wishes to make a mark in films in Cinematography.

Shahabaz Sheikh, resident of Kakinara, now 21 years of age, came to SGCC&RI with Hodgkin’s lymphoma when he was 15 years of age. This type of disease is highly curable with chemotherapy. Even after three lines of chemotherapy SGCC&RI couldn’t eradicate the disease. Finally after performing Autologous BMT in 2018, he attained complete remission and is now leading a normal life. He wants to become an entrepreneur and working towards his goal with full passion and dedication.