The country’s first patient transplanted with his own stem cells, frozen for preservation, to replace stem cells destroyed by chemotherapy or radiation is well on the way to full recovery from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, local doctors have said.
HCM City (VNA) - The country’s first patient transplantedwith his own stem cells, frozen for preservation, to replace stemcells destroyed by chemotherapy or radiation is well on the way to fullrecovery from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, local doctors have said.
The autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation bycryopreservation at -80 Celsius was performed in June at Ho Chi Minh City’s ChoRay Hospital on a 50-year-old male who had completed eight chemotherapy cycles,said Le Phuoc Dam, deputy head of the hospital’s haematology unit.
The patient had been admitted last September and diagnosed withnon-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that originates in the lymphatic system, thebody’s disease-fighting network. He was discharged from hospital three weeks.
According to Doctor Dam, Vietnam mainly uses stem cellcryopreservation in Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) with concentration of 5 percentat -196 Celsius. This method requires advanced devices, equipment and longtransplantation time (about 180 minutes) and poses side effects related toheart beat and blood pressure.
Ten institutes and hospitals have so far performed more than 500stem cell transplants by cryopreservation at -196 Celsius.
Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation bycryopreservation at a higher temperature, -80 Celsius, is a highly effectivetherapy for improving the chances of disease-free survival, Dam said at a pressmeeting on July 18. He added that it was the best method so far withpreservation time of about five years, low cost of stem cell preservation,transplant time of about 60 minutes and fewer side effects.
At around 50 million VND (2,200 USD), the procedure costs halfthat of transplantation by cryopreservation at -196 Celsius, he said.
Cho Ray Hospital is the first in Vietnam to successfully apply themethod. According to Dr Suzanne Thanh Thanh, deputy head of the hospital’shaematology unit, this method is not complicated and does not require costlyequipment. The hospital needs a freezer that can be regulated to -80 degrees, adoctor and two nurses. Central and provincial-level hospitals which have blooddepartments can also apply this method.
According to medical experts, blood stem cell transplantationexpands longevity and improves life quality, even curing some diseases. Vietnambegan stem cell transplantation in 1995, Doctor Dam said.
With technical assistance from Japan’s Tsukuba UniversityHospital, Cho Ray has applied advanced technology in the treatment of lymphomaand multiple myeloma. Since 2013 it has performed 36 stem cell transplants.-VNA
Specialists at Vinmec International Hospital in Hanoi have performed stem-cell therapy on a one-year-old baby boy to try and overcome the effects of cerebral palsy (brain paralysis).
Nguyen Thị An, diagnosed with breast cancer, was released from the hospital in stable condition on January 15. She is the second patient to be successfully treated using stem cell therapy at central Nghe An province’s Oncology Hospital.
Since the first stem cell transplant (SCT) was successfully performed in 1995 at the Blood Transfusion and Haematology Hospital (BT-H) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam has performed a total of 387 cases of SCT to date; among them, 218 were autologous SCT while the remaining were allogeneic SCT.
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Illustrative image (Source: VNA) 
