365telugu.com,online news,Hyderabad, August 27th, 2020: A team of experts from the Continental Hospitals, one of the leading healthcare providers in the city, gave a new lease to the life of a 11-year-old boy, who was suffering from acute leukaemia also known as the deadly blood cancer in common parlance.Admitted to the Continental Cancer Center, the boy, requiring bone marrow transplant, was put under total body irradiation (TBI) or the process of putting the whole body under radiation. Unlike targeted radiation therapy, TBI is administered to prepare the human body to undergo stem cell or bone marrow transplant.
Key aspects of Total Body Irradiation
· TBI alongside chemotherapy helps to kill off leukaemia, lymphoma, or myeloma cells in the bone marrow
· TBI also causes depression of the immune system (immunosuppression). This helps to prevent a rejection of the donor stem cells
· Patient may have TBI before or after the chemotherapy portion of the conditioning regimen
· The entire body is irradiated by a beam of high-energy photons from a linear accelerator (lung and renal shielding done in most cases)
· TBI is given in very low doses, several times per day, over 3-5 five days
· Doses of total body irradiation used in bone marrow transplantation typically range from 10 to >12 Gy, delivered across multiple fractions to minimise toxicities to the patient Commenting on the complexity of the patient’s condition and the treatment process, Dr. Nindra Armugam, Senior Consultant Radiation Oncologist, Continental Hospitals, who led the team of experts to conduct procedure said, “As a part of the treatment and conditioning and kill all leukaemia cells, the patient was put through total body irradiation, shielding his vital organs like lungs and kidneys. The boy tolerated the three-day TBI process with ease, and subsequently underwent bone marrow transplant, which was successfully on all medical/treatment parameters.”Continental Hospitals is among the very few healthcare providers in the country that has world-class equipment and best-in-class medical team to conduct complex procedures like the total body irradiation. The team of experts consisting of Dr. N Armugam, Physicist Sathyasheelan, and Dr. S K Gupta are rated among the best professionals to perform such intricate surgical procedures.After being put under observation for 31 days, the child, who is currently studying 6th class was discharged on 5th August, 2020 and will be returning to his regular routine soon, like any other normal child of his age.