Four-year-old Estaru Rani had to endure chemotherapy

Four-year-old Estaru Rani had to endure chemotherapy that destroyed her entire bone marrow, surgery for the removal of a cancerous tumour and finally stem cell transplantation to be cured of stage IV neuroblastoma (cancer that originates from nerve cells). The credit of planning, of what appears to be a logistic nightmare, and giving the child a new lease of life goes entirely to the doctors and paramedics of the Manipal Hospitals, Vijayawada.

Medical Oncologist and Bone Marrow Transplantation physician G. Krishna Reddy said the child’s case was referred to him by the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Hyderabad. The child was sent here after being given chemotherapy under the State’s Arogyasri scheme. Lack of sufficient funding must have been the reason for transferring the child, Dr. Reddy felt.Once the child was transferred to the Manipal Hospital, it became clear that stem cell therapy was needed to her. The treatment began with an extra-strong chemotherapy to destroy the entire bone marrow.Before the chemotherapy, the doctors had to isolate the stem cells from her blood. Since the stem cell separator available with the hospital had the capacity to hold just 150 ml blood at a time the doctors spent six hours to get enough stem cells from Rani.

Tumour removed

After the chemotherapy, a complex surgery was done to remove the tumour (called posterior mediastinal ganglioneuroblastoma in medical jargon). The child was then administered stem cells intravenously. The stem cells get into the blood stream and settle down in their respective places in a process called ‘homing’, Dr. Krishna Reddy explained. Three weeks later the child is at her “cheerful best”, he said with a smile.Money was sanctioned from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the Stem Cell Therapy and every thing else was covered under NTR Vaidya Seva.