For the first time in Cherkasy, bone marrow was transplanted from one child to another

Recently, Cherkasy Clinical Oncology Center has become the second facility in Ukraine to perform allogeneic family bone marrow transplantation for children. Previously, such operations were only carried out at the National Children's Specialized Hospital "Okhmatdyt."

The first patient of Cherkasy oncologists is 10-year-old Nastya. Two months before the start of the full-scale war, her parents learned that she had a rare disease, Fanconi anemia. This condition is accompanied by a disruption of the blood-forming process, including a significant decrease in the number of all blood cells (pancytopenia). The only method that allows for recovery is the transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells.

Due to the war, Nastya's family moved to Italy, where Italian doctors monitored the girl. When the family returned to Cherkasy, the medical staff at the oncology center began preparing Nastya for the transplantation. Since March 2023, the medical institution has been conducting all the necessary high-precision tests for genetic compatibility between the donor and recipient on their own laboratory equipment. Nastya's 6-year-old brother became her donor. After the cell transplantation, postoperative recovery, and rehabilitation, Nastya was discharged from the hospital. She returned home with her parents and her little brother.

"We will actively monitor Nastya for the next two years and make every effort to ensure her successful recovery. Then the risk of relapse for the girl will become minimal. We are determined to achieve a complete victory together," said Bogdan Skulskyi, the head of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit at the Cherkasy Clinical Oncology Center.

Bone marrow transplantation in Ukraine is performed at 8 medical centers. In the first 8 months of 2023, 217 hematopoietic stem cell transplantations were performed, including 37 for children, according to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.