ALL-B type: Concerned about transferring to another facility for BMT

Posted by asif2026 @asif2026, Mar 28 11:43am

My sister (26Y) has been diagnosed with ALL-B type cell with the prognostic factor MLL/AF4 positive in the genetic profiling. My sister is in induction phase 4th day. Doctors said it is an high risk leukemia and will proceed Stem Cell Transplant after first remission if MRD is negative. But the center is in my country (Bangladesh) and it's BMT center is relatively new. I want to take my sister to India as more experienced BMT center is there. But I am worried whether transferring will bring more harm then good as she has already started treatment here? And if transferring my sister is for the better, then when to transfer exactly as she is only in induction phase?

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alive | @alive | Mar 29 8:14am

From my personal experience, preparing for SCT is a lengthy process: induction (I had to get two), 4 weeks of recovery at home, 6 day consolidation chemo, 3-4 weeks recovery at home, another consolidation and then recovery at home. In the meanwhile, my medical team was looking for a donor and coordinating that process.

I am in the US, while my donor was in Germany. When everything was finally in place, I was admitted for my transplant. I had conditioning chemo before receiving SCT.

Since you are not confident in the transplant program at your local hospital, you should ask the transplant team what their success rate is with SCT. In the US, I can find the statistics for each SCT program. I’m not sure if this is something that you can find out about your hospital or hospitals in India.

If you have an Indian hospital in mind already, you should contact them and discuss your sister’s case and find out how and when it would be feasible to move your sister there.

The induction was one of the most debilitating and challenging times in my SCT journey. This wouldn’t be a good time to move a patient to a hospital in another country.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your sister!

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