The Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) has announced the success of its bone marrow transplant efforts, giving hope to sickle cell anaemia patients.
Professor Wasiu Adeyemi, CMD of LUTH disclosed this in a press statement. “The first set of patients underwent bone marrow transplants having been admitted in the last week of August 2024.
“They received a treatment regimen of exchange blood transfusions, chemotherapy and anti-infective prophylaxis to prepare them for the infusion of bone marrow stem cell that were harvested from family donors, processed and given this week.
It was followed by immediate post-transplant care “within the transplant unit at the hospital.” The CMD said LUTH’ breakthrough was in partnership with the Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria (SCFN), which has worked for several years to establish a high-quality, safe bone marrow transplant programme that meets international standards for the cure of sickle cell disease”.
Professor Adeyemi revealed that the procedure is now accessible to Nigerians at home and noted that “Nigeria has the most significant burden of Sickle Cell Disease worldwide.
“Individuals affected with the disease suffer life-threatening and excruciating complications from early childhood, serious damage to their organs, and reduced life expectancy. The
establishment of comprehensive care programmes, including newborn screening, penicillin prophylaxis, and Transcranial Doppler screening in children to identify those at risk of stroke, followed by using chronic blood transfusion therapy and the increasing use of hydroxyurea therapy, has improved the proportion of children surviving into adulthood but has not improved the proportion of adults living to older age, especially for the most
severely affected bone marrow transplant using a donor from a family member is an
established cure for this disease”
The statement also disclosed that this method was first used more than 30 years ago” explaining further that “bone marrow
transplant is associated with known complications such as infection and graft-versus-host
disease (when donor cells can attack the patient), infertility, and even death.
“However, this procedure has been much improved over the last 20 years to ensure good outcomes
and limit complications. Bone marrow transplant is now an approved therapy for children
and adults with severe sickle cell disease. Bone marrow transplant is a complex
procedure requiring a multidisciplinary team approach and involves treatment and close
follow-up for approximately 12 months. The complexity and costs have severely limited
those who can obtain this treatment, and most have sought this treatment outside Nigeria,
which causes severe hardship for patients and families, only to come home with no local
expertise for follow-up
“Recognizing the gaps in care for individuals affected by the disease in Nigeria, the
leadership of the Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria (SCFN) and Lagos University Teaching
Hospital (LUTH) established a bone marrow transplant programme at LUTH. In
preparation for a locally adapted and cost-effective bone marrow transplant programme
in Nigeria, a post-transplant clinic was initially established in 2019, a first in sub-Saharan
Africa, to provide post-transplant care to patients who had travelled to other countries for
bone marrow or stem cell transplants, thereby developing clinical expertise in post-
transplant care.
“The programme also established a Stem Cell Processing Laboratory, the
first in West Africa. This LUTH/SCFN bone marrow transplant programme consists of a
high-level multidisciplinary team that includes paediatric and adult haematologists,
including Dr. Seye Akinsete (Team lead) and Drs. Ugonna Fakile, Olufunto Kalejaiye,
Yusuf Adelabu, and Professor Edamisan Temiye (the Programme Manager), blood
transfusion and stem cell processing lab support (Professor Titi Adeyemo and Dr. Ann
Ogbenna), bone marrow-transplant nurses, dieticians, social workers, pharmacists,
psychiatrists, anaesthesiologists, nurses at the KidsOR (theatre) and other ancillary
personnel.
“The programme has been guided by the scientific expertise and leadership of
Professor Adetola Kassim of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who joined the
programme in 2018. To further strengthen their expertise in the programm, Prof Josu de la
Fuente from the Imperial College London Healthcare NHS Trust UK joined the team in
2022 as a resource person and assisted with the paediatric aspects of the programme.
Transplant Nursing has been supported by the Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow
Transplantation (WBMT), which offers both in-person and virtual training at periodic
intervals”