THE FIRST ALLOGENEIC TRANSPLANT PERFORMED AT THE NATIONAL MEDICAL RESEARCH RADIOLOGY CENTER

Last week, the Bone Marrow Transplant Department at the A.Tsyb Medical Radiological Research Centre, –  branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution of the “National Medical Research Radiological Centre” of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, successfully performed the Center’s first allogeneic transplantation on a 60-year-old patient from Obninsk. The woman suffered from acute myeloid leukemia, and this treatment became her only hope.

Bone marrow transplantation is one of the key stages of high-tech treatment for malignant neoplasms of the hematopoietic system, malignant solid tumors, as well as a number of non-malignant diseases such as autoimmune disorders of the nervous system and immunodeficiencies. In allogeneic transplantation, the donor is another person. The donor may be a relative or unrelated (in which case, the donor is selected from the Federal Bone Marrow Donor Registry, which anyone without contraindications can join).

“Our transplant involves hematopoietic stem cells,” says Vasily Shuvaev, head of the Hematology Department at the A.Tsyb Medical Radiological Research Centre. “These cells are special because they have the ability to completely restore the hematopoietic and immune systems. They are the precursors of all types of blood cells. For certain diseases, bone marrow transplantation allows for complete recovery from a severe illness and helps achieve long-lasting and stable remissions where conventional treatments fail. The introduction of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at our Center became possible thanks to a new department equipped with all the necessary requirements. Due to the high risk of fatal complications during the post-transplantation period, extensive supportive therapy and strict adherence to patient care protocols are required.”

In essence, bone marrow transplantation is very similar to a blood transfusion. “Our patient was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia,” says Daniil Manaenkov, an oncologist in the Bone Marrow Transplant Department at the A.Tsyb Medical Radiological Research Centre. “Unfortunately, special genetic testing revealed the presence of high-risk chromosomal abnormalities. The only chance for effective treatment in such cases is aggressive chemotherapy followed by an allogeneic bone marrow transplant. In the first stage, our team performed standard and high-dose chemotherapy and achieved a complete response to treatment. For the second stage, the patient’s brother underwent typing and was found to be a genetic match. After additional testing, hematopoietic stem cells (equivalent to bone marrow) were collected from the donor. Over several days, he was given a special drug, and then the necessary amount of cells was collected through blood processing on a special separator machine.”

The donor underwent all procedures without complications. After preparing the patient with high-dose conditioning chemotherapy, the donor cells were transfused into her. The engraftment and recovery process is now underway and will take several months. Typically, this procedure is performed once and allows for long-lasting and stable remissions in such patients.