site.btaFirst Child to Undergo Allogeneic Transplant in Bulgaria Discharged from Hospital

The first child to receive an allogeneic bone marrow transplant after a three-year pause is being discharged Monday, August 4, from the Pediatric Clinical Hematology and Oncology Clinic at ISUL University Hospital in Sofia, the hospital said.

The patient is a 4-year-old boy with a relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The donor, a fully immunologically compatible match, was selected through the German donor registry. The child is in good overall condition, 35 days after the complex, high-tech procedure. Genetic testing has confirmed that the transplant was successful. A special test called chimerism has shown that the boy’s bone marrow has been fully replaced by that of the healthy donor. 

“From this point on, the patient, the disease, and the graft will be closely monitored, initially weekly, then less frequently, for about a year. The first 100 days are the most critical,” explained the Head of the clinic Dr. Boryana Avramova.

The clinic has also completed a second allogeneic transplant in a 7-year-old girl with the same diagnosis. Her donor was her 15-year-old brother. Another procedure is scheduled for August, with two more planned by the end of October. This marks a full resumption of transplant activity at ISUL, which had been on hold due to a shortage of medical staff.

Allogeneic transplants use stem cells from a donor, either a close relative (sibling or parent) or an unrelated match from an international donor registry. The procedures are far more complex than autologous transplants (which use the patient’s own stem cells) but are currently the only curative option for children whose disease has relapsed.