HMC unit successfully performs 147 stem cell transplants despite Covid-19 pandemic – The Peninsula

HMC unit successfully performs 147 stem cell transplants despite Covid-19 pandemic – The Peninsula

Doha: The Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the National Center for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR), a member of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), has successfully performed 42 allogeneic and 105 autologous blood stem cell transplants despite the pressure placed on the healthcare system due to COVID-19.

"Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) is a highly effective therapy and often the only hope for a cure or a longer life for patients with blood cancers. It's a procedure to replace disordered bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. Transplant physicians use this procedure to eliminate cancer or defective stem cells and restore a patient's blood and immune systems," explained Dr Javid Gaziev, Head of Bone Marrow Transplant Program at NCCCR.

Commenting on the progress of these allogeneic transplants, Dr Gaziev said: "Allogeneic stem cell transplantation is a highly specialized treatment and one of the significant advances in care at NCCCR, as mandated by the National Cancer Strategy since 2011. Interdisciplinary expert teams of transplant physicians, transplant nurses, transfusion medicine, laboratory medicine, and stem cell processing laboratory have invested years of developmental work to finally establish this cutting-edge Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplant Program”.

Dr Gaziev further clarified: "These advanced therapies required many years of