Principal Director and Head, Pediatric Hematology Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, India
Part 12 of 14 in BMT in Sickle Cell Anaemia and Other Haematological Disorders
Cure Rates for Sickle Cell Bone Marrow Transplant: What the Data Shows
August 6, 2026
Matched sibling bone marrow transplant for sickle cell disease achieves a 90 to 95% cure rate, while haploidentical, or half-match, transplant achieves 85 to 90%, according to Dr. Vikas Dua, Principal Director and Head, Pediatric Hematology Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon. These outcomes are comparable to results reported in the United States, Belgium and France.
What the Published Data Shows
Dr. Vikas Dua references a 2007 publication showing that a conditioning regimen combining busulfan, cyclophosphamide and ATG achieved over 90% cure rates for sickle cell disease. Omitting ATG from the regimen was associated with roughly 30% worse outcomes, underlining how important the specific conditioning protocol is. He also references a 2017 publication covering 1,000 sickle cell transplant recipients using matched sibling donors between 1986 and 2013, which reported overall survival of 91 to 100%. St. Jude's in the United States has reported similarly strong outcomes above 90%.
Does Full Donor Chimerism Matter?
Interestingly, Dr. Vikas Dua notes that mixed chimerism, meaning the patient's blood cells are a mix of their own and the donor's, still produces good clinical outcomes. Full donor chimerism is not required for a successful cure, which gives doctors more flexibility in how they manage conditioning intensity for individual patients.
Why India's Newer Protocols Matter
India's newer conditioning regimens for bone marrow transplant in India are designed to reduce the risk of infertility while maintaining similar cure rates to older protocols. This combination of strong published cure rates and newer, gentler conditioning is a major reason sickle cell patients and their families continue to choose bone marrow transplant in India over watching the disease progress under supportive care alone.
← Why Africa Has No Bone Marrow Donor Registry, and How Haploidentical Transplant Solves It | Series index | What Is the Best Age for Bone Marrow Transplant in Sickle Cell Disease? →
This article is based on a Jivo Masterclass session conducted by Dr. Vikas Dua, Principal Director and Head, Pediatric Hematology Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, India. The article has been summarised with the assistance of an AI tool from the original masterclass recording. Watch the full Masterclass recording
This guide is based on a live Jivo Masterclass — Dr. Vikas Dua taught doctors across Africa on July 28, 2024.
FROM THE LIVE Q&A
Dr. Anthony, DRC
How much does the treatment cost, including accommodation, if the patient travels to India, and how long would they stay?
Dr. Vikas Dua
For a matched sibling donor transplant, roughly it is around $25,000 for the transplant; for a half-match transplant it is around $35,000. For accommodation and other logistics you need $10,000 more — so roughly $35,000 for a full match and $45,000 for a half match. The stay is around three months.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you find HLA compatible donors, and if they have to be found in the family, what criteria are used?▼
We do HLA typing of the patient and siblings — there's a 25 to 30% chance the siblings are a complete match to the patient on HLA. So you need to do HLA typing and you will come to know whether you have a full match in the family or not.
How long exactly are transplant children kept immunosuppressed?▼
Usually after one year we stop all the immunosuppression — only 10 to 15% of patients need it for a longer duration, but in the majority of patients we stop immunosuppression after one year of transplant.
What is the umbilical cord transplant about, and is it done for all babies or just sickle cell patients?▼
When a newborn baby is born, from the placental side of the cord, 25 ml of stem cells are collected and go to a public bank or a private bank, and later, if you want to do a transplant, you can use that unit. You can do it for any condition, but in India we don't prefer cord blood transplants because there are quite a number of issues with them — that's why we prefer adult donor transplants over a cord blood unit.
Is there a possibility for transplant in prostate cancer, and are there only two donor registry banks in the world?▼
There is no role of bone marrow transplant in prostate cancer — none, and no research on it either. On registries: the biggest bank is in Germany, the second biggest in the US, but there are many other banks in other parts of the world — there isn't even a single bank in Africa. That's one of the reasons transplants aren't happening in Africa, other than South Africa and some in Benin City, Nigeria. All of you need to come together and have your own registry, so that if somebody requires stem cells, you have your own bank — you people have to come out with the solution.
Can the same principles apply in children with cerebral palsy?▼
That's a very good question, but there is no role of bone marrow transplant in cerebral palsy. There are researches going on about whether transplant helps for cerebral palsy, but we don't have an answer in black and white — at the present moment there is no indication for doing a transplant for cerebral palsy.
What cure rates does matched sibling transplant achieve for sickle cell disease?▼
Matched sibling transplant achieves a 90 to 95% cure rate, comparable to results reported in the United States, Belgium and France.
What does the published data show about long-term survival after sickle cell transplant?▼
A 2017 publication covering 1,000 sickle cell transplant recipients using matched sibling donors between 1986 and 2013 reported overall survival of 91 to 100%.
Is full donor chimerism required for a successful cure?▼
No. Mixed chimerism, where the patient's blood cells are a mix of their own and the donor's, still produces good clinical outcomes, giving doctors more flexibility in managing conditioning intensity.
Do newer conditioning protocols reduce cure rates compared to older regimens?▼
No. India's newer conditioning regimens are designed to reduce the risk of infertility while maintaining similar cure rates to older protocols.
In This Series: BMT in Sickle Cell Anaemia and Other Haematological Disorders
- 1.Bone Marrow Transplant for Sickle Cell Anaemia
- 2.Why Africa Has No Bone Marrow Donor Registry, and How Haploidentical Transplant Solves It
- 3.What Is the Best Age for Bone Marrow Transplant in Sickle Cell Disease?
- 4.Bone Marrow Transplant for Thalassemia in India
- 5.Cord Blood Transplant for Sickle Cell Disease: Is It Used in India?
- 6.Cost of Bone Marrow Transplant for Sickle Cell Anaemia in India
- 7.HLA Typing and Donor Matching for Bone Marrow Transplant in India
- 8.Matched Sibling vs Haploidentical Transplant for Sickle Cell Disease
- 9.Non-Myeloablative Conditioning: Reducing Infertility Risk in Sickle Cell BMT
- 10.Life After Bone Marrow Transplant: Recovery and Immunosuppression
- 11.Who Needs a Bone Marrow Transplant for Sickle Cell Disease?
- 12.Cure Rates for Sickle Cell Bone Marrow Transplant: What the Data Shows
- 13.Sickle Cell Disease Burden in Africa: Why Bone Marrow Transplant Matters
- 14.What Is Bone Marrow Transplant and How Does It Cure Sickle Cell Anaemia?