Analysis results Sudden leg pain had become a cause for concern for a 14-year-old boy. Walking was greatly hampered by joint pain, but the cause of the discomfort was not clear. Visit to a clinic and timely tests showed that the problem was hidden in the developing malignant blood disease – acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The diagnosis was a shock to the boy’s family. The child was immediately sent to the UMC Mother and Child Center for hospitalization.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a disease of the hematopoietic system when the bone marrow stops producing enough healthy cells. With leukemia, there is a sharp decrease in white blood cells – leukocytes – important for immunity. Symptoms of the disease include weakness, anemia, frequent infections with fever, headaches, and vomiting.
The initial stage of treatment included chemotherapy and medication to improve the boy’s condition. However, it was not possible to bring the patient into remission. The clinic’s specialists decided to find a compatible donor and perform a bone marrow transplant, which was vital for the boy. There was no donor with maximum compatibility among the close relatives. Therefore, another option was to search for an unrelated donor in the National Registry of Bone Marrow Donors in Kazakhstan and abroad.
The long-awaited response came after 7 months of waiting. A bone marrow donor was found in Russia – a young woman agreed to become a donor and save the patient’s life. Preliminary tests had shown maximum compatibility according to medical indicators. The collection of stem cells was carried out promptly without harm to the donor, under general anesthesia, directly from the bone marrow. Then the cells were delivered safely from Russia to Astana by a special courier.
“I tried to support my son for recovery and struggle; we followed all the recommendations and treatment of doctors. We were very happy when we heard the news about the donor, and we are grateful for the help. People provided us with great support at the UMC Mother and Child Center, and gave us hope and happiness. We would like to express our deep gratitude to the entire clinic staff. And I advise parents who encounter similar cases not to be afraid, not to think about the bad things and to believe in the recovery of their child,” the patient’s mother shared.
“On July 23, the boy underwent successful unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. To date, the patient has 98.5% complete donor engraftment. This means that the transplanted bone marrow is now producing healthy cells, and the patient’s condition is noticeably improving,” said Balzhan Umirbekova, head of the UMC Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Department.
During the treatment, the patient also received the help of psychologists and teachers at the clinic. This approach helps children keep up with the general education curriculum and easily integrate into education after recovery. To date, the patient has been discharged; he continues further observation and recovery. The help of an unknown donor gave not only a chance for life to the boy, but also the desire to fulfill his dream of becoming a dentist and helping people.
The UMC Mother and Child Center has been performing bone marrow transplantation since 2012, and during this time 272 operations have been performed on children. The stem cell collection procedure itself is safe for the donor. If there is a discrepancy or absence of a donor among relatives, the search continues among people who have expressed a desire to become a donor and are listed in the national register. Today, 11 thousand people have been officially entered into the register. However, the probability of finding a suitable DNA donor is extremely low: 1 in 10,000 people.
The search for a donor is also conducted in the international registry. Unrelated bone marrow transplants from the CIS registry have been performed since 2022. During this time, 14 similar operations were performed on children.
The Bone Marrow Donation Registry is an information platform containing data on potential bone marrow donors who, on a voluntary and gratuitous basis, are ready to provide assistance and donate their stem cells to patients in need of transplantation. Bone marrow donors can be citizens from 18 to 45 years old who have not had hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis, malaria, oncological diseases, and are not infected with HIV. You can enter your data into the register through the Blood Center in your city of residence by filling out a questionnaire and taking a blood test to determine the HLA phenotype.
