Department of

Clinical Haematology Oncology and HCT

Department of Clinical Haematology Oncology and HCT

About the Department:

The department of Clinical Haematology Oncology and HCT is one of the largest haematology services in the country. We provide evidence-based care for patients with haematologic disorders from across the region, led by nationally recognised and experienced clinicians. Our department incorporates one of eastern India’s largest hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT, aka, bone marrow transplantation) services, and a comprehensive clinical research program dedicated to generating new data through patient disease registries, bringing new therapies through clinical trials and deliver precision medicine driven treatment modalities through bench-to-bedside research to our patients. We have a dynamic and very active translational research program that links the clinical and research labs of TMC and our partners to the research we do in the clinics.

The head of the division is Prof. Mammen Chandy, who is also the director of Tata Medical Center. He is ably supported by Prof. Reena Nair, who is a senior consultant in the department and also heads the medical oncology academic program. Patient care within our service is delivered by experienced clinicians and an multidisciplinary teams focused and specialised in treating diseases that fall within each disease cluster, and may include opportunities for participation in clinical trials. The clinical faculty includes

Dr. Vivek Radhakrishnan, Dr. Saurabh Bhave, Dr. Jeevan Kumar, and Dr. Arijit Nag. There are ten haematology registrars/ fellows in the service at any one time in the year in the department. Our haematology nursing team is specialised in the care of patients with haematological diseases. They are supported by customer care and clinical coordinators as well as house-keeping personnel.

Every year, our haematology experts treat around two thousand five hundred new patients with blood disorders, mostly haematological cancers. Our team provides comprehensive care with latest and cost-effective treatments in the country. The state of the art infrastructure and rich academics, enables quality research and development tuned to the Indian setting with a focus on real-world experience and translations thereof.  Our endeavour is to provide holistic patient care guided by knowledge, skills and compassion.

CIBMTR

CLINICAL HAEMATOLOGY DISEASE TYPES

  • Acute Leukemia and Myelodysplasia
  • Bone Marrow Transplantation: Autologous and Allogeneic Hematopoietic cell Transplantation
  • Lymphoproliferative Disorders including Aggressive lymphomas, Low Grade Lymphoma, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Related Diseases
  • Myeloma and Plasma cell neoplasms
  • Myeloproliferative Diseases including Chronic Myeloid leukemia, Myelofibrosis, etc.
  • Non-Malignant Haematology with a focus on bone marrow failure syndromes (e.g. aplastic anemia), thrombocytopenia, thalassemia (transplantation), immunodeficiencies in the adult, thrombotic disorders, etc.
  • Long Term Follow Up and Survivorship

Patient facilities in the department:

Monday through Saturday, clinical faculty led outpatient services operate from 9am-5:30pm (4pm on Saturdays), through pre-confirmed appointments. Outpatient services cater to new patient registrations, patients undergoing various treatment programs, follow-up and long term survivorship. The outpatient service is located in the ground floor of phase-2 block of the hospital. Treatment decisions for patients are discussed thoroughly in multi-disciplinary team meetings and decisions taken. Care is taken to counsel patients on the benefits, risks and cost-effectiveness of treatments suggested. In a year, this service handles close to thirty thousand patient visits. Patients and their attendants are advised to contact registration desk for appointments.

24×7 inpatient services in the private and general wards catering to the whole spectrum of malignant and select non-malignant hematological/ blood disorders. This includes clinical coverage of patients reporting to emergency services, day-care systemic therapy service, and patients admitted in the intensive care or high-dependency units. The private and general service inpatient wards are located in the fifth and fourth floor respectively, of the phase-2 block of the hospital. The facilities are managed by clinical consultants, registrars/fellows and nurse specialists as a single team covering all hospitalized patients. In a year, this service handles close to two thousand inpatient admissions.

The service is run by clinical nurse specialists under the supervision of clinicians and caters to patients who receive day-care based anti-cancer or disease directed treatments and supportive care. Outpatient procedures, like bone marrow aspiration, bone marrow biopsies, lumbar punctures, etc. are carried out in a section of the day care service. Day-care services are located in the first floor and third floor of phase-1 and phase-2 blocks respectively.

(aka, bone marrow transplantation). The department has a comprehensive HCT service inclusive of a 9-bed inpatient transplant facility, outpatient service with limited day-care services, a well-equipped apheresis and cell-processing facility. This is a combined adult and paediatric HCT program. This facility is located in the fourth floor of the phase-1 block of the hospital and is provided round the clock coverage by clinicians led by faculty and registrars, and nurses led by clinical nurse specialist. The peripheral blood stem-cell apheresis program and cryopreservation (cell-processing) facility is managed by a transfusion medicine specialised junior consultant Dr. Rizwan Javed and dedicated nursing personnel. Outpatient services are handled by the clinical faculty in the outpatient clinics on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Paediatric HCT and clinics are handled by the paediatric haematology oncology team in this service as a combine adult and paediatric HCT program.

Treatment facilities available for treatment of Hematological cancers and related disorders

  1. Chemotherapy
  2. Immunotherapy
  3. Hematopoietic Cell transplantation: autologous and allogeneic HCT (matched related donor, haploidentical donor and matched unrelated donor transplantation)
  4. Radiation therapy (through the Radiation Oncology service)
  5. Surgery (through the appropriate surgical specialty service)
  6. Immunosuppressive or Immunomodulating therapies as appropriate to the disorder.

Academic Programs

The department conducts clinical training programs in the disciplines related to Haematology. They are as follows:


  1. National Board accredited degree program, DrNB in Haematology (3 year course)
  2. Institutional fellowship in Haemato-Oncology (2 year course)
  3. Institutional fellowship in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation (1-2 year course)

Teaching Programs

The department has an active teaching program in Hematological disorders, comprising of


  1. Didactic Lectures
  2. Case discussions
  3. Seminars
  4. Multi-disciplinary symposia,
  5. Journal clubs and
  6. Guest talks

Significant Investigator-initiated research projects

  1. Lymphoma registry program through the Onco-Collect registry, International T-cell Lymphoma registry project, and the Lymphomap (AI-driven) project: Prof. Reena Nair
  2. Tata Precision Oncology Program: Dr. Vivek Radhakrishnan, ALTITUDE study (Acute Myeloid Leukemia)
  3. CIBMTR registry project, Bone Marrow transplant Registry program: Dr. Vivek Radhakrishnan and Reghu KS
  4. Indian Myeloma study group Myeloma registry program (ImAGE study): Dr. Jeevan Kumar
  5. Cancer Immunotherapy and Precision Oncology (CRIMSON) Project: Dr. Vivek Radhakrishnan

Consultants

Dr Mammen Chandy
MD,
FRACP, FRCPA,
FRCP, DSc

Dr Reena Nair
MD

Dr Vivek S. Radhakrishnan
MD, DM (MedOnc),
MSc, PDF (Hem, BMT)

Dr Saurabh Jayant Bhave
MD, PDF (Hem, BMT)

Dr Jeevan Kumar
MD, DrNB(Hem),
PDF (Hem, BMT)

Dr Rizwan Javed
MD (Path),
PDF (Transfusion Med), MSc