Bone Marrow Transplant in India at Fortis Hospitals

No. Fortis offers transplant options for patients without a fully matched donor.

If you do not have a matched sibling, Fortis can access international bone marrow registries to search for a matched unrelated donor (MUD). If no registry match is found, a haploidentical transplant using a parent, child, or sibling as a half-matched donor is available.  

Fortis Gurugram is one of the few centres in India performing MUD transplants specifically for thalassaemia. Your donor situation is assessed as part of the pre-travel case review so you know your options before you arrive. 

International BMT patient support at Fortis is available 24/7 through My 1Health.

• WhatsApp and telephone: +1 718 550 0880
• Email: [email protected]

The team manages your visa documentation, airport transfer, and post-discharge telemedicine follow-up. No travel commitment is needed to get started. 

Most BMT patients stay between 6 and 12 weeks in India, depending on transplant type and recovery progress.

General stay expectations:

• Autologous transplant: 3 to 4 weeks for transplant and initial engraftment monitoring
• Allogeneic or haploidentical transplant: 6 to 10 weeks inpatient, plus outpatient follow-up visits for a further 2 to 4 weeks before flying home
• Infection prevention measures continue for at least 100 days post-transplant; remote monitoring via telemedicine available once you return home
• Weekly clinic visits, drug level monitoring, and viral screening are required in the immediate post-transplant period

A detailed treatment and stay itinerary is prepared for you and your family before you travel. 

BMT costs at Fortis depend on the transplant type, donor availability, conditioning protocol, length of hospital stay, and your clinical complexity. A personalised written estimate is provided before you travel.

Cost benchmarks at Fortis India:

• Autologous transplant: $14,000 to $22,000 versus $100,000+ in the US
• Allogeneic fully matched transplant: $22,000 to $30,000 versus $300,000+ in the US
• Haploidentical half-match transplant: $32,000 to $55,000 versus up to $800,000 in the US

Complications such as graft-versus-host disease and extended hospital stays can affect the final cost, which is why a detailed estimate based on your specific case is provided before you book any flights. 

Haploidentical transplants achieve 65% three-year survival in paediatric patients and 55% in adults for AML and ALL. For paediatric AML specifically, a retrospective study of 48 patients at Fortis showed GVHD-free relapse-free survival (GRFS) of 58%.

For autologous transplants, Indian studies show 95% successful engraftment in the immediate post-transplant period.  

Dr. Rahul Bhargava has completed 2,500+ transplants at FMRI Gurugram, with outcomes that are consistently cited as among the strongest in North India.  

Success rates vary by diagnosis, transplant type, and disease stage at the time of transplant, which is why a case-specific clinical assessment is completed before your treatment begins. 

Three things set Fortis apart specifically for international BMT patients:

• The programme is led by Dr. Rahul Bhargava, who has performed 2,500+ stem cell transplants at FMRI Gurugram, holds the record for adult BMT volume in North India.  
  He was the first doctor in India to perform stem cell transplants for multiple sclerosis. He is a member of the American Society of Bone Marrow Transplant and the International Society of Pediatric Oncology.
• Fortis is one of the few centres in India performing matched unrelated donor transplants for thalassaemia. It offers haploidentical transplants with T-cell depletion and memory cell infusion, a technique that provides infection protection when the immune system is at its weakest.
• FMRI Gurugram won the Economic Times Health Award 2024 for leading one of India's largest BMT programmes, is ranked 34th in Newsweek's World's Best Smart Hospitals 2024, and holds JCI, NABH, NABL, and CEA accreditation. Your full case, including donor assessment, is reviewed before you travel, with a single coordinator managing every step of your journey.