Cancer Research Center Performed 147 Stem Cell Transplants

The National Center for Cancer Care and Research of Hamad Medical Corporation has successfully performed 147 life-saving stem cell transplants, 42 of which were donated allogeneic stem cells and 105 autologous stem cell transplants.

Dr. Javid Gaziev, Head of Bone Marrow Transplant Program at the National Center for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR), said that stem cell transplantation is an urgent treatment method for patients suffering from cancerous diseases associated with benign genetic blood disorders such as sickle cell disease, thalassemia, and other related diseases.

Dr. Gaziev explained that this treatment method was not available in the State of Qatar until 2015, then the treatment was developed with the transplantation of autologous stem cells extracted from the patient's body, followed by the start of the allogeneic transplantation program for donated cells in 2017 where the bone marrow transplant services at the National Center meet the highest international requirements and standards in terms of patient safety, and the techniques used by cancer doctors and the staff specialized in stem cell transplantation in the unit.

He also pointed out that the transplantation of donated allogeneic stem cells is one of the complex therapeutic operations and one of the most prominent achievements that have been achieved at the National Center for Cancer Care and Research, and is consistent with what has been stipulated in the National Cancer Strategy since 2011, 

He praised medical multidisciplinary cadres of doctors, nurses, transfusion specialists, laboratory specialists, and stem cell laboratories for their great efforts in training and career development to make the advanced bone marrow transplant program what it is today.

Dr. JavId Gaziev then added that these specialized and advanced treatment methods require a great deal of experience and skill, and the success in performing 147 stem cell transplants with distinguished therapeutic results is one of the most prominent achievements that have been achieved since the launch of the Qatar Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Program, which has become comparable to the best of its peers specialized in this field worldwide, and pointed out that despite the work pressures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic during the past two years, the center has succeeded in performing 25 donated allogeneic stem cell operations and 50 autologous stem cell operations extracted from the patient's body urgently.

For his part, Dr. Mohamed Salem Al-Hassan, Medical Director of the National Center for Cancer Care and Research, said that Hamad Medical Corporation is committed to improving and developing treatment methods for transplanting hematopoietic stem cells, in order to ensure increased capacity and enhance capabilities to provide high-quality services to all cancer patients in the State of Qatar.

During the past three years, the daily care unit was expanded, and nuclear medicine was used to diagnose and treat cancerous tumors, after the opening of the first laboratory and pharmacy dedicated to nuclear therapy drugs.