At the Children's Oncohematology Center of the Children's Hospital, VUL Santariškių Clinics Branch, where bone marrow transplants have been performed for Lithuanian children for fifteen years, the hundredth patient underwent an allogeneic bone marrow transplant.
According to the head of the Children's Oncohematology Center, dr. Jelena Rascon, specialists of the Children's Hospital since the day of establishment of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Sub-Department, in cooperation with colleagues abroad and trying to keep up with Europe and JAV practices applied by the centers, following advanced treatment protocols, have today achieved good results that meet global standards. In Lithuania, as in the whole world, more than 80 percent have recovered. from children treated for oncohematological diseases.
Allogeneic bone marrow transplants are performed after finding a suitable related or unrelated donor for the child or using umbilical cord blood. Dr. According to J. Rascon, the search for a donor is carried out both in the Lithuanian unrelated bone marrow donor register, which has over 10 donors, and in the world registries, which has accumulated over 000 million. vital material of donors.
In addition to one hundred allogeneic bone marrow transplants, 90 autologous transplants were performed at this center, when the cells of the small patient are transplanted.
"Oncohematological diseases and their treatment are significantly different between children and adults," says oncohematologist dr. J. Rascon, - children much more often need allogeneic transplants, which are considered more complicated and dangerous, but without them, children would not have the slightest chance of survival."
Thanks to improved diagnostics, molecular and genetic tests introduced in the last decade, improved supply of advanced drugs, each patient's treatment becomes maximally individualized. "The genetic imprint of the disease is determined for each child, and the treatment is selected based on this, so that the tumor is destroyed as effectively as possible, and the treatment causes as few subsequent complications as possible," explains Dr. J. Rascon. - Unlike in adult children, allogeneic transplantation has to be performed in case of non-malignant blood diseases - immunodeficiency, metabolic, congenital blood diseases. Without transplantation, these diseases would be fatal."
Treatment of oncohematological diseases in children is a huge, expensive investment in a person's normal and productive life in the future, which is equivalent to the life of a healthy person who has never had this disease.
Over the course of fifteen years, the team of oncohematologists at the Children's Hospital has accumulated so much knowledge and experience that today the residents of Lithuania and Latvia use their services. Last year, five children from a neighboring country underwent bone marrow transplantation.
It is extremely important that bone marrow transplants, of which about 20 are performed per year, are performed for children in one center - it is useful and rational for a small country, and the maximum result of the funds invested in this area is obtained.
The good experience of Lithuanian specialists was also confirmed by the European pediatric oncology experts who audited the Children's Oncohematology Center this week, who evaluated the center's diagnostic capabilities and treatment results, the conditions created in the hospital for patients and their parents, psychological and emotional support for children and families.
According to experts, the Children's Oncohematology Center fully meets the European requirements for medical institutions that treat children with oncological diseases. The highest recognition of the quality of treatment services provided at the Children's Hospital was the membership of the Children's Oncohematology Center in the networks of European reference centers in the fields of pediatric oncology, pediatric transplantation and rare blood diseases.
