HSCT for Secondary Progressive MS: Athena from Tunisia
by admin
Patient account published with the patient's consent. Clinical details checked and approved by the board of haematologists at HSCT Hospital India, whose transplant physicians hold DM Clinical Haematology qualifications and fellowship training in stem cell transplantation. The programme runs at a JCI-USA, NABH and NABL accredited hospital that has treated more than 1500 patients. Page last updated: 16 October 2026.
Athena B travelled from Tunisia to New Delhi for treatment of her secondary progressive multiple sclerosis at HSCT Hospital India. Before treatment, she wrote, her MS was getting worse every month and no other standard treatment was left for her. Three weeks after she returned home, she wrote that she was recovering well and working with a physiotherapist.
Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is an immune condition in which white blood cells damage myelin, which coats and protects the nerves of the brain and spinal cord. Secondary progressive MS, shortened to SPMS, begins after years of relapsing MS, once recovery between relapses stops being complete and disability keeps growing. In autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, known as HSCT, chemotherapy removes the immune cells behind MS. The patient’s own stored stem cells are then given back to build a new set of immune cells.
Athena from Tunisia: HSCT for MS at a Glance
Patient
Athena B lives in Tunisia, in North Africa.
Condition
She had secondary progressive MS, which she wrote was getting worse every month.
How she found the hospital
She learned about the hospital in Facebook groups about HSCT, from patients treated there before her.
Application
Her application went in during December 2017, and she was offered an arrival date of 11 March.
Treatment
Her treatment was autologous HSCT, carried out at the hospital in New Delhi.
After HSCT
Three weeks after returning home, she wrote that she was recovering well and seeing a physiotherapist.
Price of the programme today
The programme costs 30,000 US dollars all inclusive, covering up to 30 days in hospital.
Secondary progressive MS that was getting worse every month
By the time Athena applied, her MS had reached the secondary progressive stage. She describes it worsening from one month to the next, with no other standard treatment left for her to try. Because of that, she wanted to start treatment as soon as she could.
"My decision was done and I was impatient to get the treatment as my case of SPMS was getting worse every month with no alternative classical solutions."
Athena B, MS patient from Tunisia, written three weeks after returning home
The HSCT specialist doctors at HSCT Hospital India assess primary and secondary progressive MS case by case. The deciding question is whether a recent MRI still shows inflammation. How that assessment works is explained in HSCT for progressive MS.
Athena read the hospital website in full before she applied. Ask for the HSCT India brochure and it arrives by email, setting out the treatment stages, the 30 day stay and what the one price covers.
How Athena found HSCT Hospital India through earlier patients
Athena started her research in HSCT groups on Facebook. Patients who had already been treated at HSCT Hospital India encouraged her to apply. She then read through the hospital website before she sent her application.
"I researched HSCT groups on Facebook and received encouragement from previous patients who had HSCT at HSCT Hospital India. After I thoro[u]ghly checked out the website www.hsctindia.com, I applied in December 2017 and wa[s] offered an appointment to arrive at HSCT Hospital India on March 11, which I confirmed immediately."
Athena B, MS patient from Tunisia, written three weeks after returning home
Her application followed the route every patient takes. The HSCT specialist doctors read the form and the medical reports sent with it, and an HSCT case manager writes back with their opinion. Athena was then given a confirmed arrival date. No patient starts treatment until the doctors have examined them in person after arrival.
Athena’s first step was the application form, and yours is the same. Send your diagnosis, recent medical reports and the medicines you have tried. The HSCT specialist doctors review them free of charge.
Staff met Athena at New Delhi airport and took her through admission. She describes that welcome in her message.
"The staff took me in charge as soon as I arrived starting receiving me at the New Delhi airport."
Athena B, MS patient from Tunisia, written three weeks after returning home
Her treatment followed four stages, called mobilisation, harvest, conditioning and reinfusion. Mobilisation relies on a growth factor plus brief chemotherapy, which make stem cells leave the marrow and enter the bloodstream. A machine then collects and freezes them, a step called leukapheresis. Conditioning uses cyclophosphamide with anti-thymocyte globulin, or ATG, to clear the immune cells that drive MS. After that, the frozen stem cells go back in through a drip.
"Nurses and doctors at HSCT Hospital India are really lovely people : always available, responding to each demand, competent and very efficient."
Athena B, MS patient from Tunisia, written three weeks after returning home
Athena writes that the treatment was not easy. Side effects are expected after conditioning, and the nurses watch for them day and night. In the days after reinfusion, immunity is at its lowest, a stretch doctors call the aplastic phase. Each patient spends it in a deluxe private room with triple level HEPA air filtration, so that a fever or an infection is found and treated early.
"The follow up of HSCT transplant and its secondary effects were very efficiently managed by the medical and nursing team of HSCT Hospital India."
Athena B, MS patient from Tunisia, written three weeks after returning home
Athena three weeks after returning home to Tunisia
Athena wrote her message three weeks after she got home. She says she is recovering well and working regularly with a physiotherapist, as she had been advised to. She calls it early days and offers to share her progress later.
"I’m back home from India and it has been 3 weeks now, I’m recovering well and working regularly with a physiotherapist to optimize the treatment results as recommended. It’s still early days but I will be happy to share with you all my future progress after HSCT at HSCT Hospital India."
Athena B, MS patient from Tunisia, written three weeks after returning home
Recovery continues at home for months after the 30 day stay, while the new immune system matures. Two to four months after HSCT, most patients treated by HSCT Hospital India have resumed normal daily life, as set out in HSCT recovery time. During that time, blood counts are checked regularly, and neuro physiotherapy, meaning exercise guided by a physiotherapist, rebuilds strength and balance.
Coming from Tunisia means planning a flight to New Delhi, a medical visa for India and the stay of the person who travels with you. An HSCT case manager can call you to answer them, at no charge.
Patients from Tunisia apply the same way Athena did, through the enquiry form with their medical reports. The HSCT specialist doctors give a free opinion first. An HSCT case manager then helps plan the visa and the travel, and there is no long waiting list.
More than 1,500 MS patients from over 30 countries have had HSCT at the hospital. Its accreditations are JCI-USA, awarded by the Joint Commission International, plus NABH and NABL, the Indian national standards for hospitals and laboratories. The 30,000 US dollar price includes the hospital stay, doctors’ fees, tests and consultations, medicines and consumables, and neuro-physiotherapy. Food and laundry for the patient and one attendant, and airport pick-up and drop-back, come within the same price.
I researched HSCT groups on Facebook and received encouragement from previous patients who had HSCT at HSCT Hospital India. After I thoro[u]ghly checked out the website www.hsctindia.com, I applied in December 2017 and wa[s] offered an appointment to arrive at HSCT Hospital India on March 11, which I confirmed immediately.
My decision was done and I was impatient to get the treatment as my case of SPMS was getting worse every month with no alternative classical solutions.
The staff took me in charge as soon as I arrived starting receiving me at the New Delhi airport.
Nurses and doctors at HSCT Hospital India are really lovely people : always available, responding to each demand, competent and very efficient.
The treatment is very safe though it’s not easy but everybody at HSCT Hospital India was so encouraging and helpful. The follow up of HSCT transplant and its secondary effects were very efficiently managed by the medical and nursing team of HSCT Hospital India.
I’m back home from India and it has been 3 weeks now, I’m recovering well and working regularly with a physiotherapist to optimize the treatment results as recommended. It’s still early days but I will be happy to share with you all my future progress after HSCT at HSCT Hospital India.
Best regards, Athena B from Tunisia.
Patients with secondary progressive MS can ask for their own case to be read before deciding anything. The opinion comes from the hospital’s HSCT specialist doctors, and it costs nothing.
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