In yet another record breaking milestone in the private healthcare industry in Sri Lanka, the multi-award-winning Lanka Hospitals recently announced its first successful bone marrow transplant treatment, a modality that prevents the recurrence of blood cancers.
This major achievement - the first-of-its-kind in the country’s healthcare industry by  a Joint Commission International (JCI)-accredited private, multi-specialty tertiary care hospital, was recorded in Sri Lanka’s only fully-equipped, self-contained facility specializing in  Heamato-Oncology (blood cancer), housed on the sixth floor of Lanka Hospitals. 

Lanka Hospitals Heamato-Oncology Unit, complimented by highly trained and experienced junior medical and nursing staff, is led by possibly Sri Lanka’s only medical professional specialized in Clinical Hematology/Heamato – Oncology, Dr. Saman Hewamana and supported by a number of clinical oncologists.  

Dr. Hewamana, who studied and worked for more than 10 years in the UK, worked as a Consultant in the National Health Service (NHS, UK) and returned about two years ago to Sri Lanka. He has worked at various centres where bone marrow transplants are performed on regular basis including Blood Cancer Unit in the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and Haemato-Oncology unit in Royal Marsden Hospital in London as a Consultant before returning to Sri Lanka.

“Bone marrow treatment can be described in simple terms as an extreme form of chemotherapy, whereas in chemotherapy, medications are injected to kill malignant cells. In bone marrow transplant treatment, the specialist may prescribe treatment that kills all cells in the hematopoietic system before bone marrow treatment to introduce new cells. These cells could be from a different person or from the patient himself before treatment. Bone marrow transplants are done in specialized blood cancer/Haemato-Oncology units under direct supervision of Clinical Haematotologist/Haemato-Oncologists in the UK. We have created a similar environment in a unit treating ‘only blood cancers’ in Lanka Hospital using UK protocols and guidelines,” explained Dr. Hewamana.

Dr. Jayantha Balawardana (Senior Consultant Oncologist in National Cancer Institute, Maharagama), who actively participate in the Haemato-Oncology/transplant care at Lanka Hospital, stated that bone marrow transplants/stem cell transplant, a very well tested and proven modality of therapy for Hematological cancers, is a routine course of treatment for certain types of blood cancers and has been successfully done in countries with a highly advanced level of medical science and practice.
“However, it is a relatively new type of treatment in Sri Lanka. Some forms of Hematological malignancies can only be treated/cured by bone marrow transplants,” Dr. Balawawardena added.
Rodney Peiris (name has been changed for confidentiality reasons), the first patient who successfully underwent bone marrow transplant treatment at Lanka Hospitals stated, “I have been treated by Dr. Hewamana since 2014 and the journey has been a very pleasant one. After going from pillar to post, I finally met Dr. Hewamana at Lanka Hospitals and I have been very satisfied with his kind and professional care.

His level of communication and the time he spends with his patients are unparalleled. Before the transplant, he took time to explain me the procedure and made me confident in being in the good hands of the country’s only dedicated blood cancer care unit.”

“Over the past 60 years, bone marrow transplantation and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation have been used with increasing frequency to treat numerous malignant and non-malignant diseases. With the advancements in techniques, indications, and supportive therapy, the transplant of hematopoietic stem cells continues to be an advancing field in the treatment of human disease. 
As we have started doing  bone marrow transplants  patients who regularly travel to developed countries with renowned cancer care units for this treatment can now safely and effectively undergo bone marrow transplant treatment at the Lanka Hospitals, Colombo,” stated Lanka Hospitals PLC Chairman Dr. Sarath Paranavitane.

Dr. Hewamana reiterates that the success of the Heamato-Oncology Unit in Lanka Hospitals be attributed to a very efficient and professional team including clinical oncologists, heamato -oncologists/clinical heamatoncologists, trained nursing staff, dedicated pharmacist, micro biologists, transfusioninsts, etc.