The foundation stone for a new four bedded Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) unit at Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI) in Assam’s Guwahati was laid by Dr Amal Chandra Kataki, Director of BBCI on Tuesday.

The BMT Unit will be constructed with the support of HT Parekh Foundation. HT Parekh Foundation is the corporate social responsibility wing of HDFC Bank. On the occasion, 20 members including doctors, nurses, medical social workers, and technicians of the BMT team were felicitated.

According to Dr Amal Chandra Kataki, bone marrow transplant is an important therapeutic tool in the management of hemato lymphoid cancers and also for non-cancerous conditions like aplastic anemia.

He said, “In India, around 90,000 hemato-lymphoid cancers were reported in the year 2020. In north east India, roughly 7000 patients with hemato-lymphoid cancers are detected every year. Once the new BMT ward is completed, this will reduce the waiting time for the procedure, increase the number of transplants each year, and likely to reduce the costs of the transplant. The BMT wing at BBCI symbolizes the self-reliance of cancer treatment in North East India to celebrate Azadi ka Amrit Mahatsov.”

Dr Asif Iqbal, Assistant Professor of Hemato Lymphoid division of department of Medical Oncology said, “Till date, six patients successfully underwent BMT at BBCI with medical conditions ranging from multiple myeloma, relapsed lymphoma, to aplastic anemia. Generally, the cost of BMT even in a government hospital anywhere in India ranges from Rs 15 to 20 lakh. However, the cost of all the BMTs done at BBCI is within Rs 7 lakh.”