Srinagar: Government Medical College, Srinagar and its associated SMHS Hospital has successfully performed its first autologous bone marrow stem cell transplant in a case of high risk multiple myeloma.
A statement by a GMC spokesperson said that the patient was admitted to Medical Unit-III of the Postgraduate Department of Medicine and the whole procedure was conducted by the qualified and experienced clinical hematologist Dr. Mir Sadaqat, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine and Clinical Hematology Unit of GMC and Associated Super-Specialty Hospital, Srinagar.
The statement said that the procedure involved stem cell mobilization, stem cell harvesting, myeloablation, and stem cell rescue.
“The patient remained admitted for 22 days in the hospital and was discharged after successful engraftment of the stem cells,” the statement said.
It said that it was due to the “visionary approach” of principal GMC Srinagar Prof. (Dr.) Masood Tanvir and his administration along with guidance from Prof.(Dr) Rakesh K Koul, HoD Medicine GMC Srinagar, and support from Prof. (Dr.) Mohammad Ismail – HoMU-III, mentorship by Prof. (Dr.) Javid Rasool, HoD Clinical Hematology SKIMS Soura, and full blood bank support from Prof. (Dr) Sheikh Bilal, HoD Pathology/Blood Bank and Transfusion Medicine, which made this successful.
“This is the first time in the history of GMC Srinagar that this type of treatment modality in a blood cancer patient has been provided that too in a resource-limited setting.”
It said that by providing such treatment modalities to cancer patients will definitely help them not only as standard care for a disease but also as an option that was never available before.
