Tamil Nadu - Vellore   

CMC leads in blood cancer treatment

P.V.V. Murthi

"Diagnosis through powerful tools one of vital advances achieved"

VELLORE: Thanks to the painstaking research undertaken by the doctors, their specialised training in reputed medical institutions abroad and the liberal grants from the Department of Biotechnology, the Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore has today emerged as a major centre for state-of-the-art bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and treatment of blood cancer in India.

According to Mammen Chandy, Professor of Medicine and Head of the Department of Haematology, CMC Hospital, precise diagnosis through powerful tools was one of the most important advances achieved by the hospital for the treatment of leukaemia (blood cancer), lymphoma (tumour in the lymph glands) and myeloma (cancer involving bone marrow).

"If a person comes with acute myeloid leukaemia, we will confirm the diagnosis by doing cyto-chemistry (chemical reaction to pick up the presence of an enzyme) and immuno-phenotyping (process of identifying a cell by adding antibodies).

In cases involving translocation of chromosomes, cytogenetics (making a cell divide to study the chromosomes) helps us to decide the correct treatment depending on the exact chromosomal changes taking place in the cells. These scientific advances for making a precise diagnoses were essential to choose the correct treatment regimen," he said.

In an exclusive interview to The Hindu , 57-year-old Dr. Chandysaid that the Karyotyping station (karyotyping is the technique of studying the chromosomes in a cell) established at a cost of Rs.50 lakh enabled the department to carry out cytogenetic tests rapidly with the help of computerised sorting and arrangement of the chromosomes. The computerised system helps in assigning the karyotype quickly. With this system, specific translocations could be detected in 48 hours, enabling the doctor to start the correct treatment protocol.

Dr. Chandy under whose leadership, the first allogenic BMT for thalassemia was performed in India in 1986, said that right now, the CMC Hospital performs about 75 allogenic transplants (involving transplantation of stem cells obtained from HLA-matched siblings or unrelated persons) and 40 autologous transplants (where the patient's own stem cells are transplanted) every year. This was the most active stem cell transplant programme in India.

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