Bone Marrow Transplantation in Israel

Professor Ofer Spielberg

Head of the Institute of Hematology and Oncohematology

Bone marrow transplantation in Israel is performed for patients suffering from malignant anemias, leukemias, lymphomas, multiple myeloma, and many other types of cancer at the highest level. The percentage of successful procedures here is higher than in European countries or the USA. The doctors at Ichilov have access to well-equipped diagnostic laboratories, and the clinic's hematologists use the latest medications that reliably prevent the rejection of transplanted cells and the development of infectious complications. Patient care is conducted according to comprehensive protocols in comfortable and spacious wards equipped with all necessary facilities.

Calculate treatment cost

100%

accuracy of preliminary diagnosis

91%

of bone marrow transplants were completely without complications

82%

of patients fully recovered after bone marrow transplantation

Table of Contents

Reviews

Methods

Stages

Diagnosis

Prices

At the Top Ichilov clinic, the success of this procedure is ensured by the many years of experience of the best hematologists in the country, under whose guidance the diagnosis, preparation for the procedure, and subsequent monitoring of the patient's condition take place.

Leukemia treatment at Top Ichilov using bone marrow transplantation is conducted by:

• Leading hematologist Dr. Odelia Gur;
• Pediatric hematologist Dr. Dror Levin.

Bone Marrow Transplantation: How It Happens in Israel and Its Advantages

Bone Marrow Transplantation – Advanced Technique in the Fight Against Blood Cancer

Bone marrow is the hematopoietic tissue of the body, from which normal blood cells (platelets, red blood cells, white blood cells) grow from stem cells. During the treatment of oncological diseases of the hematopoietic system (leukemia, myeloma), these cells die after intensive chemotherapy. Bone marrow transplantation in Israel, taken from the patient before treatment begins, allows for rapid restoration of hematopoietic function.

Bone marrow transplantation for leukemia, the cost of this procedure is significantly lower than in Europe and the USA, is performed according to an individual protocol. Leukemia treatment at the Top Ichilov clinic in Israel includes several types of this procedure:

• Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. In Israel, donor material is used for allogeneic transplantation. The procedure is very complex, not so much technically, but in terms of finding compatible donor material. Thanks to a vast donor material database at the Top Ichilov clinic, this type of transplantation is successfully and quickly performed, but the examination before the procedure may take a longer time. After bone marrow transplantation, the patient in Israel requires careful and constant monitoring by a specialist.

Allogeneic BMT is usually recommended as treatment for the following conditions:

• Severe aplastic anemia
• Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), if a relapse has occurred
• In some types of ALL in the first remission, if there are signs at diagnosis that suggest a very high risk of relapse
• In acute myeloid leukemia, either in the first remission or after relapse
• In chronic myeloblastic leukemia, when it is still in a stable phase of the disease, usually in the first year after diagnosis
• In cases of congenital immunodeficiency diseases, such as:
• Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID)
• Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS)
• Bare lymphocyte syndrome

• Autologous bone marrow transplantation. For transplantation, the patient's own bone marrow is used. The material is extracted from the femur under general anesthesia. The cells are frozen until the operation is performed. Before the surgical intervention, the patient undergoes a course of chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy, a series of control tests (general and biochemical blood tests). Autologous bone marrow transplantation in Israel (the cost of this procedure is much lower than in the USA) is performed by intravenous administration of a suspension of previously harvested bone marrow cells under strict control of a transfusion physician.
• Syngeneic BMT – this type of transplantation is from one identical twin to another. Such transplantation is essentially the same as autologous, because the donor's bone marrow is identical to the patient's bone marrow. Syngeneic BMT is used to treat conditions such as aplastic anemia, leukemia, and other types of cancer, but not for treating hereditary diseases such as immunodeficiency.

In any method of transplantation, supportive immunotherapy is simultaneously conducted, as well as treatment aimed at eliminating transplant rejection reactions.

Bone Marrow Transplantation in Israel: Stages of the Procedure

The entire treatment period, including hospitalization and surgery, takes a month, but the patient must be monitored for another two months, with mandatory outpatient visits to a specialist. In total, this labor-intensive procedure requires a stay in the clinic of about 3 months.

• First stage– preoperative chemotherapy. The course of chemotherapy is conducted based on strict indications.
• Second stage– hospitalization of the patient during the waiting period for the operation. Includes constant monitoring.
• Third stage– selection of a compatible donor. This stage includes the selection of an unrelated donor, examination, trial collection of material, conducting tests and studies for compatibility with the recipient.
• Fourth stage – transplantation of donor or autologous bone marrow cells.

After bone marrow transplantation, the patient is monitored by experienced hematologists, as the transplanted marrow does not immediately begin to produce healthy blood cells. During this period, hematologists need to carefully and comprehensively monitor the patient's overall condition to prevent the development of inflammatory processes. In Israel, after the procedure, the recipient remains in sterile conditions until the bone marrow adaptation process is completed and the production of normal healthy blood cells begins.

Transplantation allows for a quick restoration of the production of healthy blood cells, which is disrupted in leukemia. Leukemia is characterized by the release of immature cells into the bloodstream in huge quantities. The clinic's equipment and the high level of qualification of the doctors allow for such a complex procedure to be performed without complications, and the cost of bone marrow transplantation in Israel is much lower than in clinics of a similar level in Europe and the USA.

Diagnostics Before the Procedure

Bone marrow transplantation in Israel begins with a comprehensive examination, which includes consultations with specialists, radiological examinations, lung function testing, bone system scanning, MUGA tests, CT, ultrasound, bone marrow biopsy, research using radioisotopes, etc.

Top Bone Marrow Transplantation Doctors

Bone marrow transplantation at the clinic is performed by experienced professionals whose skills and expertise minimize the risk of rejection reactions and significantly increase the survival rate of patients with malignant pathologies of the hematopoietic system.

Professor Ella Naparstek — an international expert in the treatment of acute and chronic forms of leukemia, including the use of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The professor has extensive experience in performing both allogeneic and autologous bone marrow transplantation (respectively — donor and autologous biological material), with over 150 scientific publications on this topic. The doctor is a member of several dozen specialized medical organizations, including the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation and the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, as well as several international organizations focused on experimental hematology.

Professor Ron Nam — an expert in hematology and bone marrow transplantation. The professor specialized at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington (USA). The doctor periodically lectures at the medical faculty of Tel Aviv University and is the coordinator of the university's hematology section. The professor has authored over forty fundamental publications on the search for treatment methods for lymphoma, leukemia, neutropenia, and other blood diseases.

Ronit El-Hassid — one of the leading specialists in bone marrow transplantation in children. Throughout her clinical career, the doctor has performed over three hundred such procedures, made several dozen scientific presentations at major international conferences, and authored about 50 publications on the treatment of malignant diseases of the hematopoietic system. The doctor is a member of the Israeli Association of Pediatric Oncohematology and has held leadership positions in various Israeli clinics multiple times.

Mikhail Shapira — a professor with over twenty years of clinical experience, whose name is well known to tens of thousands of patients from different countries who have managed to overcome leukemia or myeloma. The doctor has extensive experience in performing bone marrow transplantation and is the author of several new methods for transplanting blood stem cells to elderly patients. He is one of the participants in a program for developing promising methods for preventing complications characteristic of bone marrow transplantation (graft-versus-host reaction).

Prices for Bone Marrow Transplantation in Israel

• Anaplastic B-cell lymphoma
• Aplastic anemia
• Burkitt-like lymphoma
• Franklin's disease
• Leukemia
• Brain lymphoma
• Lennert lymphoma
• Thymic lymphoma
• T-cell precursor lymphoma
• Mucopolysaccharidosis
• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
• Subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma
• Blood cancer
• Reticulosarcoma
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
• Extranodal NK-cell lymphoma