It is a new dawn for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma patients in the country following the announcement of a groundbreaking technology by a local hospital.
The revelation by Nairobi West Hospital will reduce the number of patients seeking treatment abroad. It also means a patient will cut the cost of bone marrow transplant in India by more than half the price and almost three-quarters for those who eye South African hospitals.
One of the first six patients who underwent a bone marrow transplant in the hospital's newly established Unit, the first one ever in the country, is set for discharge; either today or tomorrow after a successful bone marrow transplant.
Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are the three main types of blood and bone marrow cancer contributing to the country's cancer burden. The 55-year-old patient had a Myeloma, which arises in the bone.
The hospital's Director of Medical Services, Dr. Andrew Gachie, said specialists at the facility count this Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) invention as a milestone.
"Instead of using chemotherapy or radiotherapy, a patient can use their blood with normal cells to destroy the abnormal ones," he said yesterday at the hospital during the launch of the multi-million shilling unit.
Dr. Gachie explained that the idea involves harvesting some immature but normal cells from the same patient through autologous and injecting them back into their blood system to replace the diseased or damaged bone marrow. This process takes an average of two to three hours.
"And by use of drugs, chemotherapy or radiotherapy, we can destroy the rest of the marrow that's affected, then take the normal immature cells and put them back into the system," he said, pointing out that usually when that is done, the body can regenerate new non-cancerous cells.
With time the patients will have normal cells, he pointed out.
However, the specialists caution that it doesn't mean all the cancer cells have been eliminated. Still, they will be overwhelmed by the normal cells and might completely disappear.
"Therefore, this is a form of control of the disease, although in some cases, patients have been cured and live for many years even if they have cancer," Dr. Gachie said. And this means that patients who rely on chemotherapy for survival will be able to save between Sh20, 000 and Sh30 000, a cost per session.
"Access to quality, affordable specialised healthcare in Kenya has been a major pain point for most patients who have to travel abroad for advanced medical procedures like a bone marrow transplant," he noted.
He believes an effective bone marrow transplant unit backed by world-leading specialists could make Kenya a medical tourism destination.
This latest revelation, he pointed out, will also help a Kenyan patient seeking the same treatment in India to cut costs by up to Sh2 million from an average of Sh5 million, which most hospitals in that country charge.
"The hospital is looking at lowering this cost to about Sh2 million to Sh3.5 million. This is key since the patients will be treated here in the country," he said.
Dr. Guarav Dixit, Head of the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the hospital, noted that "In some instances, bone marrow transplant offers the only hope of a cure in treating blood cancers like Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) and Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia (ALL), that would be otherwise be difficult to treat with conventional chemotherapy.
"It is usually a safe procedure for patients with sickle cell disease if done at a young age. Other emerging indications that can be treated with BMT include Multiple Sclerosis and Paediatric immunodeficiencies," he added.
Dr. Dixit noted that this therapy is evidence-based globally and is now readily available in Kenya to all who may need it in a world-class facility that can rival many in the west.
Dr. Kibet Shikuku, Chief Consulting Pathologist for The Nairobi West Hospital, further expounds that "The cancer burden is rising globally, exerting significant strain on populations and health systems at all income levels. Being diagnosed with blood cancer can bring fear, frustration, and uncertainty. However, blood cancer can be treated successfully when detected and treated early. We are fortunate to have local healthcare providers like The Nairobi West Hospital, which offers an effective and holistic treatment plan for patients."
Traditionally BMT is done in South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, and Tanzania in February this year, with Kenya now joining.
But for some reason, the costs have been prohibitive, according to Gachie, why many people have been opting to go to India.
"In SA, for instance, it costs between Sh7 million and Sh10 million," he added.
He said the hospital is anticipating doing 60 and 100 patients per year once the Unit is completely expanded with all the requirements from the current 6.
He explained the advantages of bone marrow transplant over chemotherapy, saying that; to begin with, BMT is not toxic.
"Besides cancerous diseases, we can treat non-cancerous conditions such as sickle cell anaemia.
"This will be an important evolution in the health sector as sickle cell anaemia doesn't have a solution now," he added.
The whole procedure takes 14 to 21 days. However, the only challenge can be when there is an infection.
The machine used for this procedure is called apheresis, a process that allows for the collection of specific blood components which, depending on a patient's condition, are replaced with similar parts received from blood donors, removed and stored for later use, or discarded.
