A hundred bone marrow stem cells transplantation from unrelated donor done at MMA
17. 07. 2018
The Clinic for Hematology of the Military Medical Academy has done a hundred transplantation of the bone marrow stem cells, so-called allogeneic transplants, taken from donors who are not relatives to patients. Such types of transplants in the MMA have been in place since January 2013, since Serbia became a member of the International Donor Registry.
Allogeneic transplantation means a procedure in which the bone marrow of a patient suffering from a malignant disease is replaced by healthy stem cells taken from another person, most often a relative, such as a brother or sister or a non-related person. It is often the only option for treatment because the appropriate donor has only every third patient in the family. By 2013, such transplants were performed in foreign transplant centers if they did not have a matching donor in the country. With membership in the International registry of donors all conditions were met in Serbia for the treatment of malignant blood diseases by forms of transplantation and the MMA medical teams have the necessary clinical experience for monitoring patients after transplantation.
The international registry of potential bone marrow donors has about 30 million people, and the National Registry at the Institute of Blood Transfusion of Serbia has about 7,300 potential donors. The procedure is completely harmless and does not necessarily mean that someone who is registered in the registry will be a donor, but it can be crucial for the treatment of a matching patient. Cells can be taken from the bone marrow of a healthy donor and from peripheral blood.
This year, the MMA will mark 45 years since the first allogeneic bone marrow transplant from the related donor, which was at that time a pioneering endeavor in the Balkans. Since 1996, the MMA Transplant Center has been a full member of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), which guidelines are followed in work, thus the results of treatment are fully comparable to the results of foreign centers. So far, more than 1,200 transplants have been carried out in the MMA, and each year this treatment is being improved and modernized.
Allogeneic transplantation means a procedure in which the bone marrow of a patient suffering from a malignant disease is replaced by healthy stem cells taken from another person, most often a relative, such as a brother or sister or a non-related person. It is often the only option for treatment because the appropriate donor has only every third patient in the family. By 2013, such transplants were performed in foreign transplant centers if they did not have a matching donor in the country. With membership in the International registry of donors all conditions were met in Serbia for the treatment of malignant blood diseases by forms of transplantation and the MMA medical teams have the necessary clinical experience for monitoring patients after transplantation.
The international registry of potential bone marrow donors has about 30 million people, and the National Registry at the Institute of Blood Transfusion of Serbia has about 7,300 potential donors. The procedure is completely harmless and does not necessarily mean that someone who is registered in the registry will be a donor, but it can be crucial for the treatment of a matching patient. Cells can be taken from the bone marrow of a healthy donor and from peripheral blood.
This year, the MMA will mark 45 years since the first allogeneic bone marrow transplant from the related donor, which was at that time a pioneering endeavor in the Balkans. Since 1996, the MMA Transplant Center has been a full member of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), which guidelines are followed in work, thus the results of treatment are fully comparable to the results of foreign centers. So far, more than 1,200 transplants have been carried out in the MMA, and each year this treatment is being improved and modernized.
